


DRAMAtale

by YourLadyStar



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Temporary Character Death, basically undertale with a dmmd coat of paint on it, slight changes here and there but not much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 22:56:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9628871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourLadyStar/pseuds/YourLadyStar
Summary: Crossover between DRAMAtical Murder and Undertale.A war between humans and powerful beings known as Ultra's resulted in the Ultra's being sealed underground. But when a human falls into the Underground, he might be the key to bringing peace to their world.





	1. Into the Underground

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and I can't wait any longer.  
> For any Undertale or DRAMAtical Murder fans, hope you all have a field day with this.  
> For the small percent of you who don't know anything about either of these, hope you still have fun.

_Long ago, humanity made great strides in understanding science._

_They were ready to introduce the next step of human evolution and creation._

_The most powerful minds gathered voluntary subjects and began the first part of their project._

_From there, the first generation of the beings simply referred to as “Ultra’s” were born._

_Within mere years, scientist were able to evolve from gifting individuals with great powers to being able to create life from scratch without any means of differentiating between born and manmade._

_The Ultra’s, as gifted as they were, were accepted into society and welcomed as any other human would._

_But as time went on, equality for the Ultra’s began to waver. No longer were they seen as any other individual, but treated as outsiders and experiments gone wrong._

_This anger in them incited a war between humans and Ultra’s._

_Yet, despite the Ultra’s feats, humanity’s knowledge over them led them to to victory._

_In a final act, humans used the very last of their resources from the experiments to seal the Ultra’s away to the world below and created a shield that would ensure they would never escape._

_Now, in the year 20XX…_

_The knowledge of the Ultra’s remains nothing more than a myth and the location the Ultra’s were sealed, Mt. Ebott, remains a mere mountain that very few dare to tread._

_For it is said, those foolish enough to journey there…_

_Never return._

 

* * *

 

 

A soft groan echoed throughout the large empty space. The young male human laid in a pile of yellow flowers, and slowly and shakily picked himself up. Rubbing his head, he looked up and the saw the faint light coming from the hole he fell from several stories above him.

_"Damnit… I must have fell in. Guess this is what I get for not listening to them.”_

Managing to stand himself up, dusting off his red and black jacket and black pants before he looked around him, darkness swallowing every corner save for a short path in front of him.

_"Where… where am I?”_

With no other option, he decided to head down the path. At the end, he found an opening and went inside. Darkness was all around him, save for a small light shinning down a few feet away from him. He walked up to it and found a woman in a blue dress and white boots sitting on a small patch of grass with her legs folded, her hands together and her eyes closed, looking like she was meditating.

“Um… excuse me?”

She opened her eyes and looked at him, bright yellow pupils staring at him, as she smiled, “Hi there! I’m Usui!”

She moved to stand up, but he was taken back when she instead started to levitate about a foot off the ground and eight more arms appeared from her back.

_"No way… an Ultra?! I thought those were just a myth!”_

“I haven’t seen you before. Are you new to the Underground?”

“Uh… I guess so. I…”

“In fact, now that I look at you, you’re a human, aren’t you?” She cocked her head as she eyed him.

“Y-Yeah, I am.”

“Then I guess I better teach you how we do things down here.”

He was caught by surprise, “Really? You’re actually going to help me?”

“Of course! If I let you go on completely clueless, there’s no telling what will happen to you out here. Well, let’s get started!”

Usui released a strange power that engulfed the remaining bit of light in darkness, and he was shocked to find both him and her body were now completely black and white.

“What the- What’s going on?!”

“Don’t worry, this is what we do here! Now, do you see that heart in front of you?”

He looked down and saw a bright red heart floating in front of him, the bright red hue surrounded it in a warmth and a comforting feeling. He reached out to touch it and found that it followed his hand movements. “W… What is this?”

“That’s your soul, the very culmination of your being. Right now it’s pretty weak, but I can help you make it strong by giving you LOVE.”

“LOVE?”

“That’s right! Here, I’ll give you some LOVE,” White petals appeared above her, “These little white friendliness pellets here will help you. Here, grab as many of them as you can with your soul!”

The pellets moved towards him and he reached his hand out, holding his soul out. But the moment the pellets touched the heart, his entire body was wracked in an intense pain. He screamed as he dropped to his knees, looking down at his body that was now covered in deep scratched, his heart was thudding in his chest and his breath was wracked. The light surrounding his soul had dimmed and he could have sworn he saw cracks forming in it.

“U… Usu-i…!”

When he looked back up at Usui, the warm happy smile on her face was replaced with a psychotic grin, her yellow pupils seeming to have shrunk.

A maniacal laugh erupted from her mouth, “You really are such an idiot! Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this?!” An evil glint shinned in her eyes, “In this world, it’s KILL or BE KILLED!”

His entire body was surrounded by the white pellets.

“NOW **DIE!!!”**

The pellets slowly closed in on him, up close they looked like small sharp blades. He tried move, but his entire body was numbed by the pain. He shut his eyes tight, the sound of Usui’s crazed laughter filled his ears as he waited for the inevitable pain.

But it never came.

Instead, he felt his body enraptured by a warm sensation as the pain quickly dulled away, the cuts were healed and the tears in clothes were mended. He opened his eyes again and saw Usui with an utterly confused look on her face.

“W-What the..?”

Before she could react, a bolt of blue lightning came down and struck her in the back. She let out a scream and quickly fled. He picked up the sound of approaching footsteps coming closer along with a male voice.

“Talk about a terrible being, torturing an innocent, defenceless being.”

The figure came into vision. It was a young man, clothed in simple jeans and shirt covered by a puffy jacket, a pair of headphones hanging on his neck and long hair went down his shoulders. His body was black and white, just like his. The man came close to him and held out his hand.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. My name’s Aoba, I’m the caretaker of these ruins.”

Seeing a genuine helpfulness in his eyes, he grabbed his hand as the strange field around them faded, the previous small field of grass returned and the color on his body was back. He saw the color return to Aoba, revealing most of his clothing to be blue, save for the slight white and yellow on his jacket, his hair to be light blue, the headphones on his neck a bright pink and his calming eyes to be a light olive green.

“I pass through the ruins everyday. You’re the first human to fall here in a long time.”

_"This is where all those people who came to Mt. Ebott are? Wonder how many of them ran into Usui.”_

Aoba turned away and looked back at him, “Follow me, I’ll guide you through the catacombs.”

Feeling much more safer now, he followed after Aoba, hoping that things would be much more safer now and readying himself for whatever else he might find in the Underground.


	2. Through the Delta Ruins

Following Aoba through the large open path, he found himself in a very dark area.

He heard Aoba groan, “Hold on. I’ll fix this.”

He watched as Aoba generated an electric energy dyed in a light blue color in his hand before he shot it out, the electric energy hit the walls around them as they were absorbed into lights hung around the room. The lights were turned on, clearing the room of all darkness and coloring it in a lovely light lavender. He could see a small bed of red roses leading up to a small stairway towards a intricate carved doorway.

“Wow. I’m impressed,” He commented on the spectacle of his power.

“Thanks. My family is known for being professional electromancers.”

He looked up at the stone carving over the doorway, “Delta Ruins?”

“That’s the name of this place. It’s been abandoned by the previous caretakers, so I decided to take it up for them,” He continued to walk forward, “This way, buddy.”

He continued to follow after him through the door, finding him in another small room, the door leading forward being sealed.

“The ruins are protected by a series of puzzles to keep it safe. You’ll have to grow accustomed to them if you want to keep going forward,” Aoba stepped over a series of round stones that laid in a pattern on the ground and flipped a large switch on the wall, opening the door before he walked through, looking back, “Come on.”

He followed after him into the next room. This one was much larger, small rivers flowed through, the floors between them connected by small bridges, and vines were growing along the walls.

“If you wanna get pass this room, you’ll have to activate some switches. I made sure to label the ones you need to press, so don’t worry.”

He and Aoba walked over the small bridge as he looked to the wall at his side, seeing a large switch and several arrows painted on the wall with yellow paint pointing towards.

_"Wow… talk about a worry wart.”_

He went over and flipped the switch. Walking over the other small bridge, he saw Aoba standing in front of a small trap on the ground protruding large metallic spikes, blocking the way. He went over to the wall, flipping the switch that had more arrows pointing towards it, as the spikes retreated back into the ground.

“Excellent! Nice job. Let’s keep going.”

He followed him into the next room, the only thing inside it was an old looking and worn out mannequin.

“Since you’re a human living in the Underground, the Ultra’s here will attack you. When that happens, you’ll have to fight. But, don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to defend yourself. When you’re engaged in the fight, try striking up a conversation.”

“Huh? You want me to talk to the Ultra that’s trying to hurt me?”

“Trust me, the Ultra’s here are a lot more friendly and open than you think. If you can appeal to their softer side, they’ll let you go without a hitch. Here, I’ll show you,” The two walked over to the mannequin, “Now, engage a battle with this mannequin.”

“You want me to fight the mannequin?”

“It might not seem like it, but it is more alive than you think. Trust me.”

“Okay,” He stood in front of the mannequin, “How do I start the battle?”

“Simple. To start a battle, you have to look into each others eyes, and when one of you holds the desire to fight, you’ll open the field. Stare at the mannequin and think how you want to fight it.”

Following his instructions, he looked at the mannequins dull eyes, the thought of battling strong in his head, and within an instant, the same field he fought Usui in appeared, his body once more washed of all colors and his soul reappeared in front of his chest.

“Hey, it worked!”

“Amazing!” He looked over and saw Aoba there, also washed of all color, “You did pretty well summoning the field for your first time. Now, try my tactic.”

He looked back the mannequin, clearing his throat before he spoke, “Um, hey there! How are you?”

The mannequin didn’t respond back. He thought for a moment that he might have messed up, but all of a sudden the field around him closed and he was back in the normal world.

“Nice job!”

“Wait, what just happened?”

“You won the battle. That’s the tactic I was teaching you. When you appeal to an Ultra’s kindness and earn their respect, they’ll concede defeat and let you win. This way, you can get out of the fight without getting hurt or having to even fight back.”

“Huh… interesting.”

“I know. Let’s keep going.”

They headed into the next room that seemed mostly deserted. He followed behind Aoba as he spoke to him, “There’s another puzzle in this room. Let’s see if you can solve it.”

At the end of the room, he saw the entire floor was covered in spikes surrounded by water. He was ready to continue and see if he could find another switch when he noticed Aoba wasn’t moving and had a rather concerned look on his face.

“Aoba?”

“This is the puzzle, but…” He looked back at him and gave a reassuring smile, “Here, grab my hand and stay close.”

He listened and grabbed his outstretched hand as he led them through the path, the spikes retreating in a particular order that Aoba seemed to have memorized. Once they were on the other side, he let his hand go and ushered him to come along, “Some of these puzzles are pretty dangerous, I’d hate to see something happen to you.”

The next room was a long stretched hallway, the end of it was pretty far off.

Aoba turned to look at him, “You’ve been doing pretty well so far. But… I have something I need to ask of you,” He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I need you to cross this room by yourself. I’m sorry for doing this.” In a split second, he was on the other side of the room, a trail of flickering electricity marked his path for a few moments.

A little confused by his strange gesture, he shrugged and began to walk through the large room. It seemed to stretch on for longer than he anticipated, his eyes drifting off to the set of vines along the wall that marked every few steps he took. He became so entranced with keeping track of the distance that when he finally made it to the end of the room, he noticed Aoba wasn’t there.

“Aoba?”

“Don’t worry, I’m right here.”

He came out from hiding behind the pillar at the front of the room and stood in front of him, “I’m sorry if I made you worry.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. I knew you’d be close by.”

A warm smile graced his face, “That’s good. I’m glad to know that you trust me,” His face became serious, “There’s a reason why I did that. I had to test you to see if you’d be fine by yourself.”

“Why would you need to do that?”

“There’s something urgent I need to do right now, so… you’re going to have to be alone for a while,” He looked at him, his eyes pleading, “Please, stay here. My home is just on the end of the ruins, but… I’d be too nervous to have you go through them all by yourself. So, just wait here and I’ll be right back to get you. Here,” He reached into his coat pocket and handed something to him, something familiar, “Take this cell phone. Call me if you need anything, or just in case, alright?”

He nodded, “Sure.”

“Good. Stay safe, okay?” With that, he was off in a millisecond, once again leaving an electronic trail in his path.

He leaned against the pillar, waiting out the time. He fiddled around with his empty pocket, the zipper on his jacket, tapping his fingers against the pillar, even resorting to counting each leaf on the vines next to the pillar just to pass the time. Without Aoba around, the quiet ruins felt so lonely and vacant. He looked down at the cell phone in his hand. It was a flip phone, a sure sign of the pretty dated technology the Ultra’s had to work with, and it had one number saved in it labeled “Aoba”. With boredom consuming him, he gave him a call and he answered right away.

**“Hello?”**

“Hey, Aoba.”

**“Hey, is everything alright?”**

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

**“That’s good, I already feel better. Make sure you stay in that room, okay? There’s some puzzles up ahead that I didn’t get to explain, and some Ultra’s tend to sneak in sometimes. I don’t think they would take kindly to seeing a human down here, especially all by yourself. I can’t risk you getting hurt if something happens, so just stay safe, okay?”**

“Alright. Like I said, don’t worry.”

**“Thank you. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”**

With that. he hung up. He wanted to stay true to his word, but the idea of having to wait in that room for a few more minutes with nothing to do just seemed to be too agonizing. Besides, Aoba made sure to teach him how things worked in the ruins and how to defend himself. Now’s the perfect time to prove how well he did. With his mind made up, he set off.

The next room was mostly vacant, but he did catch sight of some young looking Ultra’s creeping around him. They were staring at him with both confusion and anger, but he did what he could to avoid them.

_"Aoba said they only will battle me if I look in their eyes. If I can just avoid looking at them, I shouldn't have too much to worry about.”_

After cautiously going through the next room where the floor gave way to a lower level, he found himself in another room where the path was covered in spikes. A large button was on the ground, a rock in front of it. He quickly picked up what to do and was about to get to it when he got a call.

“Hello?”

**“Hey. It’s Aoba.”**

“Hey Aoba. What is it?”

**“Um… I know this is going to sound pretty random but, I was wondering… which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?”**

He was pretty confused at the sudden question, “Well… I guess if I had to pick, I’d say cinnamon.”

**“I see. Thanks.”**

He hung up before he could respond. It was strange, but he was willing to pass it off and was about to keep going before the phone rang again.

“Yeah, Aoba?”

**“Hey. I just wanted to know, you don’t dislike butterscotch, do you? Would you be willing to eat it should that be the case?”**

“Yeah, I don’t really mind. I like butterscotch, too.”

**“I see. Thank you. Sorry for asking something pretty weird.”**

“Don’t worry, bro, it’s fine.”

**“Bro?”**

He forgot for a second that Ultra’s seemed pretty out of touch with the modern world, “Oh, that’s-”

He could hear Aoba chuckle,  **“We haven’t know each other for that long and you already see me like a brother? That’s pretty nice,”** He could hear him clear his voice, **“Well, I gotta go. I’ll be back soon, little brother.”**

He hung up again, and he couldn’t help but give a slight chuckle himself at hearing Aoba take the whole “bro” thing pretty seriously. He went to work, moving the rock onto the switch to shut off the spikes. The next room also had many parts of the floor that would give way that he had to map out. Some Ultra’s that had been following him saw this as a good opportunity to attack him. He was forced into some battles, but he was able to talk his way out of them. The next room had more spikes blocking his path and there were three switches he needed to activate. He moved the rocks onto two of them, but when he reached for the third one, he was taken by surprise.

“Whoa there! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Wha- You can talk?!”

“Yeah I can talk! I’m camouflaging. And you’re disturbing my nap.”

“S-Sorry,” He surely wasn’t expecting that. _"_ _He looks exactly like a rock, too. These Ultra’s surely know what they’re doing.”_ “Well, I need to get through. Do you mind moving over and sleeping on that switch?”

The disguised Ultra let out a groan, “Fiiine. If it’ll get you to leave.”

The rock moved on it’s own and stopped on the switch, turning off the spikes.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah yeah, just go.”

He heard the sound of snoring as he went on. The next room had nothing to report, but the one after was different. The path was blocked by a sleeping Ultra. His body was transparent, almost like a ghost, he looked to be a middle age man, a hat and glasses blocking his face, and a round body covered by overalls and a white shirt. He wasn’t completely blocking the path, so he tried to walk around him, but he was stopped by an invisible shield blocking the way. The Ultra seemed to have taken notice of his presence and let out a loud yawn.

“... Please… come back… later…”

“But I really need to get by.”

The Ultra went back to snoring, but he could see him peeking at him through the glasses. It was obvious he was faking just to get him to leave.

 _"Fine. You forced me to do this.”_ “Hey!”

The moment he caught sight of the Ultra’s eyes, he opened the field and the Ultra shot up at the shock.

“Huh?! A battlefield?!” The Ultra looked at him, “I guess I have no choice…”

The Ultra shot some type of ethereal energy at him, but he was able to move out of the way.

“Tell me, what’s your name?”

“It’s Haga-san…”

“Well, Haga-san, I didn’t want to fight you. I just need to get through and this was the only way I could get you to listen.”

“I see… but I still need to fight back… it’s what Ultra’s are supposed to do…”

He moved out of the way of another attack, but he couldn’t help but notice something.

“You’re not much of a fighter, are you, Haga-san?”

“Not really… I’ve always wanted to be a performer… but I don’t think I’m that good…”

“Can I see some of it?”

Haga-san gave a confused look, “Huh?”

“Some of your performance. Show me and I’ll tell you what I think.”

“Oh… Okay,” Haga-san started to ready something, “It’s still a little rough, so make sure you stay safe…”

Keeping a safe distance, he watched as Haga-san manipulated the ethereal energy around him, weaving it into a rather impressive display. He was almost tempted to reach his hand out to see how it felt, but he didn’t want to risk any damage to him and disrupting Haga-san’s performance.

Once it was over, Haga-san looked at him, “...What do you think?”

“That was really good!”

“Really? Haha… Hey, take a look at this…”

He let out some more energy from his hands that went for his head, forming the shape of a top hat.

“I call it ‘Dapper Haga’... Do you like it?”

He let out a slight chuckle, “It’s pretty neat. I like it.”

“Pretty neat… Hehe…”

The field suddenly dissipated as Haga-san gave a bright smile.

“I tend to come down here because no one is usually here… But today I met a very nice human… Oh, I’m sorry… I’m still in your way…”

“It’s okay. Have a good day, Haga-san.”

“Thank you…” With that Haga-san floated through the ceiling.

He let out a relieved sigh as he set back off. The puzzles in the next few rooms were similar to the ones before, so he was able to get through without much problem. One small room he found had a bowl of candy on top of a small podium with a note saying ‘Please take one’. He gladly helped himself to one, feeling pretty hungry since he came to the Underground. After a while, he managed to reach the end of the ruins, and immediately heard Aoba’s voice.

“Oh man, that took longer than I thought. I haven’t heard from him in a while. I really hope he’s okay. I shouldn’t have left him alone,” From behind a large tree surrounded by red flowers, he came out and grabbed his phone, ready to call. But when he saw him, Aoba rushed up to him, “You’re here?! How did you get here?”

“I couldn’t wait in that room all that time. Besides, I wanted to show you just how well you taught me.”

“You’re a bit beat up,” He noticed the slight scratches on him, “I’ll be sure to heal you. I’m really sorry for leaving you alone like that for so long, it was really irresponsible of me,” He could see the genuine worry in his eyes.

“Don’t worry too much, I’m fine and I made it here,” He brought his hand to rest on Aoba’s shoulder, “And from what I heard, you’re finished with whatever you were doing.”

A relieved smile graced his face, “Yeah. I guess there’s no use hiding it anymore now that you’re here. Follow me, little brother, I have a surprise for you!”

He followed Aoba around the tree and was greeted with the sight of a large, rather inviting looking house.

“Aoba, is this…”

“Yeah, this is my home. Or, I should say now, it’s our home, little brother!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly wouldn't be surprised if big bro Aoba becomes as much as a thing as goat mom Toriel.  
> We'll just have to see.


	3. One Brother's Fears, Another's Determination

The quaint feel of the house from the outside definitely matched the inside. Everything felt so bright, warm and welcoming, almost a ray of light in the quiet desolate ruins.

“This place is really nice.”

“Thanks!”

His nose caught the smell of something very sweet.

Aoba noticed, “You smell that? Surprise! I made you a butterscotch-cinnamon pie!”

“So that’s the surprise you meant.”

“Of course. I want you to enjoy yourself and have fun in your new home, little brother. I figured it’s best to make something suitable for a human before I feed you something more liked by Ultra’s, especially snail pie,” The thought of something like snail pie sent shivers down his spine. Aoba reached out and grabbed his hand, “Follow me, I got something else to show you.”

He brought him to the right hallway and stopped in front of a door.

“What’s this?”

“Your room, little brother,” Aoba rested his hand on his shoulder, “There’s plenty of space here, and I want you to feel comfortable,” He took a quick sniff, “Uh oh, I better make sure the pie doesn’t burn. Make yourself at home!” With that, he ran off in the other direction.

He went to check inside the room. The walls, ceiling, even floor was painted in a light blue color. It consisted of simple bed, a drawer with a large mirror above, a lamp and a desk. Everything was so neat and tidy, almost as if no one has been in this room for a long time yet Aoba still made sure to keep it clean. The sight of the bed became incredibly tempting by the second. The long traverse through the ruins left his legs pretty worn out, and his body still felt slight bits of pain not only from the battles against the Ultra’s he had to deal with on the way, but the initial fall that landed him in the Underground in the first place. He flopped onto the bed, laying on his back with his hands behind his head, he eyes closed as he allowed himself to relax. The comforting air and the peaceful atmosphere of the room lulled him into a calm slumber.

He was almost surprised when he woke up. _"_ _Can’t believe I actually fell asleep.”_ He sat up and stretched, his arms and legs feeling revitalized. He caught a sweet smell and looked to his side. On the small desk next to the bed was a piece of butterscotch-cinnamon pie and a written note:

**Hey sleepyhead!**

**I guess you must have really been tired from walking through the ruins. It makes me feel a bit bad, but it’s also comforting knowing that you’re here, safe and sound.**

**I took the liberty to heal your wounds and I left you a little something for when you wake up.**

**Enjoy!**

**Your big brother, Aoba**

He smiled as he helped himself to the pie. It had a pleasantly sweet taste and it was still warm, as though it just came out the oven. Once he was done, he decided to look around the house more. Leaving the room, he headed to the next room down the hall. The room was a bit bigger than his and he assumed this was Aoba’s. On a desk he found a book where Aoba had apparently been working on some jokes, a large bookshelf that was filled with several books about different types of plants, but one thing in particular caught his eye. On top of his drawers was a picture frame. He picked it up and saw a picture of Aoba, a large man with dark brown hair and golden eyes hugging him from behind and another man the same height as Aoba with dark blue hair and eyes and a black hat hugging him from the front.

_"They all look so happy. But who are those two other Ultra’s? I hope Aoba doesn’t mind me asking.”_

Finished in Aoba’s room, he headed down the other hall and found the living room. Aoba was there, sitting in a big chair in front of a fireplace, a book in his lap and a pair or reading glasses on his face.

He looked pretty engrossed in his book, a part of him didn’t want to disturb him, but he figured he should let him know he was awake. He cleared his throat.

Aoba looked up right away and smiled, “Hey, you’re finally up! You must have been pretty tired, you’ve been out for almost an hour.”

“I guess I was,” He pulled out the chair in front of the small table and sat down.

“Listen, I know this might sound kind of weird, but… I really am glad to have you here. I have a lot planned for you; there’s a lot of old books I want to share with you, I want to show you my favorite bug hunting spot, I even got a curriculum planned to help you learn more about the Underground. It might not look like it, but I’ve always wanted to be teacher.”

“I can actually kind of see that.”

Aoba let out an embarrassed chuckle, “Yeah, I guess,” He cleared his throat, “But still, I’m happy to have you here and I’ll do everything I can to make you feel happy here as well.”

“Appreciate it… Hey, Aoba?”

“Yes?”

“You don’t mind if I ask you something, even if it’s kind of personal?”

“Not at all. What’s on your mind?”

“Well, I went to check out your room and I found this picture of you and these two other Ultra’s. Who were they exactly?” He could see the hesitation on Aoba’s face, “It’s fine if you don’t wanna tell me-”

“No, it’s fine. You trust me, little brother, and it’s time I show I trust you,” He let out a sigh as he adjusted his glasses, “The tall one in the photo is Mink. He’s my husband.”

“Your husband?”

“Yeah. Is… is that weird? I’ve read up that humans weren’t very comfortable with this back when we used to live with them.”

“No, I don’t think it’s weird. Some other humans might think so, but I never really saw the problem with it.”

A relieved sigh left him, “That’s good. I was afraid I might freak you out,” He recollected himself, “Anyway, the other one in photo is my twin brother, Sei.”

“Hmmm… where are they?”

“Mink is back at the capital. And Sei…” His eyes filled with grief as he looked away from him, “Sei… died a long time ago…”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“I-It’s okay. A lot of Ultra’s say I’m still not over it, but… I’m handling it…”

“I feel pretty bad making you bring it up.”

“Don’t worry. I’m glad to know I can share anything with you. I already feel kind of better.”

He gave a small smile, “When did Sei die?”

“About 10 years ago.”

He got very confused, “Wait, 10 years? You barely look a day older than you do in that picture.”

He let out a small laugh, “Oh, that’s simple. Ultra’s age much slower than humans do. One year for you is about five years for us.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm. Some species of Ultra’s don’t even age. Robot Ultra’s can live for as long as they want so long as they take good care of their bodies and can have someone to rely on to help them just in case. There’s actually some robot Ultra’s that are still alive that used to live among the humans.”

“Man, that’s pretty insane. Ultra’s have been gone for so long that everyone believes that they’re nothing more than a myth. Even I used to think that. But now that I’m actually living with one, I’m really hoping that this isn’t just a dream.”

“Well, I hope so too. I’d hate to think that you’re not actually real, little brother,” He gave the brightest of smiles that he could help but reciprocate.

“Thanks for sharing this with me. I’m going to look around more.”

“Of course. Let me know if you need anything!”

Aoba went back to his reading as he went to explore the rest of the house. The kitchen was very quaint and simple, the large pie that sat on the counter with the small piece he ate cut out of him practically made his stomach jump, and he found the stove was spotless and didn’t seem to be plugged into any type of power source.

_"Aoba did say he was an electromancer. Guess he must handle it himself.”_

He walked back to the hallway where his room was and found there was one last door at the very end of the hall. But when he went to check, the door was locked and there was a sign on it that said “Currently in Renovation”. He was a little confused by this, but he decided to not pry Aoba about this. He already told him some pretty harsh stuff he’s had to deal with and he didn’t want to make him feel worse. He was sure that he explored every place he could of the house, until he remembered one last thing. The staircase he saw when he first entered the house. He headed back to it and saw that it lead underneath the house. He was about to head down when he was stopped by a loud voice.

“Wait, little brother!” Aoba was quickly at his side as he pulled him away from the staircase, “Please don’t go down there.”

“Why? What’s down there?”

“N-Nothing important,” He quickly left back to the living room, clear hesitation and fear was present on his face.

He followed him to the living room, finding Aoba back to reading acting as though nothing happened.

“Aoba.”

“Hey little brother. Do you need something?” He could hear his nervous tone seeped in his voice.

“What’s down that staircase?”

He paused for a moment before answering, “It… It leads to the exit out of the ruins. B-But it’s nothing you need to worry about. You’re safe here.”

“Aoba, can you show me to the exit?”

He could see fear etched into his eyes, “U-Um… Hey, this book I’m reading has a lot of interesting facts on snails! Would you like to hear one?”

“Aoba.”

“Listen to this. Did you know that snails have a chainsaw-like tongue called a radula? Pretty interesting right?”

“Aoba!”

“There’s a lot more interesting things in here, like-”

“Big brother!”

He refused to be distracted, and calling him that seemed to break the remnants of Aoba’s resistance as he closed the book and set it down along with his glasses, “I’ll be… right back.”

Aoba dashed off in a second and he ran to keep up with him following him down the stairs. There was a long hall upon heading down and he saw Aoba standing a foot or so away from the staircase with his back to him.

“Aoba, what are you doing?”

“The exit at the end leads to the rest of the Underground. It’s the only way to leave the ruins… I’m going to destroy it, so I know you won’t leave. So please go back upstairs.”

Aoba tried to keep going, but he stopped him by grabbing his shoulder, “Wait! Why do you want to destroy it?”

“... Every human that has come down here has met the same fate. I’ve seen it time and time again. They come. They leave. They die. Don’t you understand? If you leave, they… Mink… will kill you. I don’t want that to happen to you. Please… go to your room.”

He dashed off again, and he ran to follow after him. He found Aoba at the exit, his back still facing him.

“You still came?”

“Aoba, you know that I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me since I came here. I don’t take any of that for granted. But… I can’t stay here forever. I need to get back to the surface.”

“So you really want to leave that badly?” He could hear slight bits of anger in his voice, “You’re like all the others. Fine. But if you want to leave… prove it to me. Prove that you are strong enough to survive!”

Aoba quickly turned around and locked eyes with him, the field opening up.

“A-Aoba?!”

He didn’t respond and barraded him with electric attacks, coming out quick and fast, forcing him to remain on guard. Aoba didn’t speak, but he could see the hesitation and regret on him with each attack. One bolt of lightning struck his soul and a searing pain shot through his arm. But even with that, he still refused to act back. He could see the confusion on Aoba’s face.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why aren’t you fighting back? You want your freedom, don’t you? So fight back!”

He attacked with more bolts of lightning, but he still refused to fight back.

“Why are you doing this?!”

“I have no reason to fight you!” He looked at him, determined, “After everything you’ve done for me since I came here, after looking out for me, teaching me how to defend myself and treating me like family, why would I ever fight you?”

Aoba tried to strike back again, but he noticed that most of his attacks were missing him. And not by accident. Even when he was standing still, the lightning didn’t get anywhere near him. Eventually Aoba stopped, his gaze fell to the floor.

“I know you really want to leave, but… please… just go back upstairs.”

“Aoba.”

His arm fell to his side, “I’ll take good care of you… I know I don’t have much… but… I’ll do everything to make sure you have a good life here… Don’t make this so hard… please go upstairs…”

“Aoba…” He slowly walked up to him as Aoba hugged his sides.

His body was slight trembling, before he let out a small laugh, “I’m pretty pathetic, aren’t I? I can’t even save one human.”

“I don’t think you’re pathetic at all,” He rested his hand on Aoba’s shoulder.

“... I understand. You wouldn’t be happy being trapped here. The ruins are very small, there’s not much to do… it’s not a proper place to raise you. So… my expectations… my loneliness… my fear… for you, little brother… I’ll cast them aside.”

The field disappeared, Aoba still looking at the ground.

“If you really want to leave, I won’t stop you. But, if you do… don’t come back. I hope you can understand that,” Aoba hugged him as tight as he could, and he hugged him back, almost not wanting to let go, but eventually he did as Aoba finally looked at him, “Goodbye, little brother.”

He gave a slight hesitation before he finally left, looking back at him once more as he disappeared down the hall. He felt a strong pang of guilt. A part of him wanted to go back, but he had earned his right to keep going and he wasn’t going to waste it. He went through the door, passing through another small hallway before he reached the end. But standing, or rather levitating, in the middle of the room was a familiar face he really didn’t want to cross with.

“Usui?!”

She gave a sly chuckle, “Well, aren’t you just a clever little one. Don’t you remember what I said? In this world, it’s kill or be killed. Yet you try to play by your own rules. You didn’t kill a single Ultra. You must feel really proud of yourself, don’t you? But, tell me, what will you do if you meet one who is relentless, one who won’t let you go easily? You’d much rather die and die and die than fight back. But what will you do then? Will you give into your desires, or surrender and give it to me? I am the one who holds the future of this world in my hands. So don’t you worry, my little monarch, my plan isn’t regicide. This will be so much FUN!” She gave a maniacal laugh before she disappeared in a flash of light.

Her words rang through his mind, but he couldn’t let them affect him. He forged his path this far by making his own decisions, and he wasn’t going to let some crazed Ultra tell him otherwise. Remaining firm, he walked through the final door, separating him from the outside world, ready and full of determination.


	4. A Fatal Mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one might be a bit different than what you were expecting to come next. All I can say is this: Get ready.

“You want your freedom, don’t you? So fight back!”

He was in a very tough situation.

The only thing standing between him and the only means of leaving and returning home was an Ultra that cared for him like family despite hardly knowing him. He didn’t want to hurt Aoba, not after everything he’s done for him since he landed in the Underground. But his relentless assault made it seem like fighting back was the only means of getting through. He didn’t fight any of the Ultra’s he ran into on the way to the house, but he knew fully well how to defend himself. And on the way there, he found an old rusty knife.

It shouldn’t be able to do too much damage to Aoba.

When he saw an opening, he weaved through the bolts striking the ground and slashed out at Aoba, the knife cutting through the sleeve of his jacket, a noticeable thin cut along his arm.

“So, you finally decided to fight back.”

“Aoba, stop! This is ridiculous!”

“Don’t let your guard down.”

Aoba ignored him and launched another attack at him. Just one scratch wasn’t going to be enough to stop him. If he could just wear him down… maybe he could get him to listen and stop.

He kept himself stern as he evaded each lightning strike and made small attempts to lash out at Aoba. Small thin cuts started to decorate his arms, torso and one across his cheek. Each one made his heart ache and he wanted nothing more than to stop. But he had to keep going. He had gotten this far, it had to be almost over!

Aoba summoned a bolt of lightning in front of him as he drew close, but in a moment of fierceness, he pushed through the electricity with intention of hitting Aoba’s hands, hoping it would be enough to stop him.

But he didn’t hit his hands.

He hit his chest.

The knife managed to stab through Aoba’s chest, piercing his heart. The shock of it made his grip on the knife loosen as Aoba fell onto his back.

“AOBA!” He snapped out of his shock and quickly removed the knife from his chest, throwing it to a random area, as he held him in his arms, “Aoba? Aoba!”

He heard Aoba let out a groan. Up close, he could see the extent of the damage he had done to him, both the amount of scratched that littered his body and the stab through his chest, his red blood starting to paint his monochrome shirt.

“Aoba, tell me what to do. Tell me how I can help you!”

Aoba let out a light pained chuckle, “Sorry… little brother…”

“Aoba…”

“I… couldn’t protect… you… and I… I made you do something h-horrible…”

“If anyone should be sorry… it’s me. I’m the one that did this to you… so please just tell me how I can fix it!”

Aoba weakly shook his head as he looked up at him, pain swam in his eyes, “I need you… to promise me something…” He took a deep breath, “Stay safe… stay careful… don’t let Mink get you… Can you do that for me… Little brother?”

He gave him a nod, his breaths starting to hitch and his eyes were burning.

“Ha… Ha… That’s… goo… d…”

He gave a weak smile as his eyes closed and his head leaned into his chest. He watched as a grey upside down heart emerged from Aoba’s chest, floating in front of his face. The aura around it faded as cracks formed in the heart, and it shattered into pieces before fading away.

The field slowly faded as he was brought back in front of the exit to the ruins. But he paid it no mind as he stared down at Aoba’s lifeless body still in his arms. The tears that had welled up in his eyes finally came free as he hugged Aoba close, burying his face into his chest.

The maddening silence of the ruins was back once more, his sobs the only sound interrupting it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to anyone who just went through some terrible memories from this.  
> I'll have to up the rating and add some new tags now that I intend to do this for each boss fight. And to make it up to you, the next chapter will be up in a few minutes so we can get a little more positivity back.


	5. Puzzle Loving Ultra's

Upon leaving the ruins, he was immediately greeted by the sight of a large forest, massive thick trees shrouded in darkness that seemed to touch the sky. The ground was covered by thick snow, and a slight chill was in air, not enough to make him too cold but enough to make his breath visible. Keeping his hands in his pockets, he started to walk forward, the snow crunching beneath his boots with each step.

As he walked along the path, he got a strong feeling of being watched. It shouldn’t feel any different than before, since it was a constant feeling that he dealt with while going through the ruins, but it felt different now. It felt like something was actively following after him, making his nerves tremble and the hairs on the back of his neck stand, something he couldn’t just pass off due to the weather.

Ignoring it, he continued walking down the long stretch, stepping over a large tree branch lying on the middle of the path-

_SNAP!_

He quickly looked back and saw that the tree branch was broken in half.

_"... Calm down. It was probably just an animal or something.”_

He continued to walk, but he whipped back around when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, but found no one there. He steeled himself, not wanting his nerves to get the better of him. Eventually he made it to a small bridge with a wooden gate built on it. He was about to go through when the sound of footsteps began approaching him. This time he knew he wasn't hearing things. They slowly made his way towards him and he felt his entire body paralyzed in fear, rendering him vulnerable. The footsteps stopped right behind him and a deep intimidating voice breathed down his neck.

“Human… Don’t you know how to greet someone? Turn around and shake my hand.”

He slowly turned around, keeping his gaze on the ground. He saw a pale hand with clawed fingernails stretched out in front of him. He reached his hand out and grabbed it.

He was taken off guard when the sound of a whoopee cushion went off the moment their palms joined together.

He looked up at the Ultra. Dark blue hair mated his head, bright amber eyes shined through it, a thin string necklace with a blue jewel tied to it wrapped around his neck, black pants were held up by a belt and a white shirt poked through the color of his black shirt, one arm covered by a white sleeve, the other adorned by a thick dark blue wrist band with light blue straps hanging off. His fingernails were sharp and pointed and, as he spoke, he could see small fangs poking out.

“Can’t believe the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick still works,” His voice was deep, but the intimidating tone he used before was replaced with a more relaxed and laid back tone.

It took him a few moments to process what was going on before he bellowed in laughter, “I gotta say, I sure wasn’t expecting that.”

The Ultra gave a brief smile before it went back to a mellowed look, “Say, you’re a human, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s interesting,” He seemed to not be at all surprised by it, “Name’s Ren. I’m a sentry guard. I’m supposed to be on the watch for humans like you, but, I’ll be honest, I don’t really care about capturing you.”

“Well, Ren, that’s pretty good to hear.”

“Clear probably won’t feel the same.”

“Clear?”

“My friend. He’s fully intent of capturing a human. In fact, I can actually hear him coming here.”

“Oh great,” Ren must have some pretty good hearing, since he wasn’t picking up anything.

“Head through the gate. Clear made the bars too wide to stop anyone,” He made his way through the gate with Ren following behind. There was a small area with a wooden stand in the corner, “Go hide behind that rock.”

He noticed the large rock off to the side and quickly hide himself behind it. He could hear the sound of footsteps running closer. He peeked out from the side and saw another Ultra run up to Ren. A long white coat flowed behind him as he ran, white boots crunching in the snow. The coat covered up most of his white shirt and blue pants, a light green scarf hung around his neck, and his silver hair slightly shielded his light pink eyes. When he came to a stop, he was panting.

“Hey Clear. What is it?”

Clear looked up at him, frustration painted on his face and voice, “You know what “it” is, Ren!” His voice was light, almost young, “We’ve been out here for eight days and you haven’t recalibrated any of your puzzles! You just hang around your station all day! What are you even doing?”

He wasn’t phased at all, “Staring at this rock. It’s pretty neat. Would you like to see?”

Clear thrashed his arms, “No! I don’t have time for that! I have to be ready in case a human comes through! I need to be the one! I must be the one! I will capture a human!” He calmed down as he smiled gleefully, lost in his own little world, “If I do, I can finally get everything I’ve ever wanted. Respect… Recognition… To finally join the royal guard. I’ll have more friends than I can count! I’ll start up every morning showered in adoration.”

“Hmm… I think this rock can help you with that.”

He could’ve sworn that Ren was trying to give him away, but luckily Clear didn’t seem to take notice of that.

“Ren! You’re not helping, you lazy dog! You just sit around all day! I swear you get lazier every day!”

“Hey, I’ve gotten a lot done today. In fact, I’m pretty “pooched” right now.”

Ren’s attempt at a pun seemed to only fuel Clear’s frustrations.

“REN!”

“Admit it, Clear, you’re smiling.”

“I am and I hate it!” He let out a sigh, “Why do I have to do so much just to get some recognition?”

“Don’t take it too hard. At this rate, you’ll grind yourself down to the gear.”

Clear let out a frustrated groan, “I need to get back to my work. As for you, try to… “bone” your work.” Clear let out a small laugh before he dashed off.

“Okay, you can come out now.”

He came out from behind the rock, the two Ultra’s display made for quite the challenge to contain his laughter.

“Well, that was interesting. And I’m guessing those jokes weren’t just random stuff you were making up.”

“Yeah. I’m a werewolf, Clear’s a robot.”

“That makes sense. Well, I gotta keep going. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for your friend.”

He walked off, but was stopped by Ren, “Can I ask you for a favor?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Clear has never seen a human before and he’s pretty excited. So, even though he’s trying to capture you, can you make sure he’s happy? He’s been a bit down lately, and this just might make his day.”

He gave a smile, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Much appreciated. And don’t worry, Clear isn’t all that dangerous, even when he tries to be,” Ren turned and walked away. He found it pretty bizarre that he was heading that way, but he had to stay focused on his own path.

Taking a turn, he found a large stream of water, a fishing rod held in place by two rocks. The line was in the water, so he reeled it in and saw a note on the hook. There was a picture of a weird looking Ultra with a message saying “Call me! Here’s my Number!” A number was written underneath, but he figured it was best not to even try it. He placed the line back in the water and went back on the path, but he found himself blocked by Ren and Clear talking. They didn’t seem to take notice of him, but he didn’t seem to have any other way around them. So, he walked closer.

“So, as I was saying about Koujaku-”

The sound of his footsteps stopped the Ultra. When Clear looked at him, he instantly buried his face in his scarf, his body trembling and his pale face was becoming more red by the second. Ren place his hand on Clear’s cheek before he reached down, scooping up some snow as he place it on his forehead, steam coming off as the snow melted in a millisecond.

“Calm down, Clear. You’re overheating again.”

The red on his face quickly dissipated as he spoke, “Oh my god! Ren… is that… a human?!?!”

Ren looked towards him, but he could tell his focus wasn’t directly on him. He turned and got a look at what he was focusing on.

“Actually, that’s a rock.”

“Oh,” Clear’s excitement faded in a split second.

“Hey, what’s that in front of the rock?”

Clear looked at him and his excitement immediately returned, “OH MY GOD!” He looked to Ren and whispered, “Is that a human?” Ren nodded and he looked back at him, “OH MY GOD! Ren, I did it! Koujaku will… I’m gonna… I’ll be so- Popular!!! Popular!!! POPULAR!!!” Clear looked like he was ready to burst from excitement, but he cleared his throat and put on a completely different persona, “Human! I’m afraid this is as far as you’ll go! I, the robot Ultra Clear, will stop you! You’ll be captured and brought to the capital! And then-!” He pondered for a moment, “I’m not quite sure what will happen next… Anyway! Keep going… only if you dare!” Clear gave a triumphant laugh before he ran off.

Ren looked back at him, “That went pretty well.”

“Yeah. Your friend seems pretty excited.”

“Well, remember what I said. And don’t worry, I’ll keep and eye out for you,” Ren gave a reassuring wink as he left to join Clear.

He continued on, dealing with a near sighted anthropomorphic dog Ultra, before he came across Ren again.

“Ren? What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to tell you something. Clear has a special attack, one he’s pretty proud of. If you happen to fight him, make sure you’re careful.”

“I will, don’t worry. I’ve had to deal with other Ultra’s already.”

“You must be getting used to things down here. Have you heard of blue attacks?”

“Yeah, I just encountered it,” He remembered the tactic the near sighted Ultra used to try and see him.

“Those attacks always reminded me of stop signs. When you see them, you stop. Though, I guess blue attacks are more like blue stops signs.”

“Sounds right. Well, I’ll see you,” He kept going and made a turn, finding a snowman. It revealed itself to be an Ultra and asked if he could carry a piece of it with him on his travels, a request that he couldn’t bring himself to turn down. He came across Ren and Clear again, the two standing on the other side of a big space of crushed snow.

“Ren, you’re so lazy! You were napping all night!”

“Clear, that’s called sleeping.”

“Excuses, excuses!” Clear turned and noticed him, “Oh, the human has arrived! My friend and I have created some puzzles to stop you. You might find this one to be rather _shocking._ This is the Invisible Electricity Maze! When you touch the walls, this orb will give give you quite the zap,” He held out a light blue glass orb in his hand, “Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Because, to be fair, it probably won’t be that much fun for you. Just try to pass, if you dare!”

He took a step forward, holding his hand out. He touched what he assumed to be the wall and the orb gave Clear a sudden jolt, leaving him smoking. He looked at his friend, “Ren, what did you do this time?!”

“I think you’re suppose to give the human the orb.”

“Oh, okay,” Clear cautiously made his way through the maze towards him. He handed him the orb, “Here you go,” He walked back through the maze to the other side, “Okay, now you can go.”

The path Clear made was visible in the snow, so he followed the footsteps and made it through the maze without even looking up.

“A-Amazing! You’re a pretty clever human, you solved it so easily! I’m pretty impressed.”

“I appreciate it,” He tossed the orb back to Clear.

“But know this! The next puzzles won’t be nearly as easy. Just you wait and see!” With that he dashed off.

“Thanks for doing this,” Ren spoke up, “Clear seems like he’s having fun.”

“It’s nothing. I might actually enjoy this as well.”

“By the way, you noticed the coat he’s wearing?” He nodded, “He made that for a costume party we went to a month ago, but he came to really love that coat, and now he wears it everyday. He says it’s a part of his battle armor now.”

“I think it suits him.”

Ren gave a smile, “Clear is pretty cool, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” He smiled back as he set off. He solved his way through another puzzle, one where he had to roll a large snowball until it became small enough to go into a small hole, until he found the two Ultra’s again.

Clear noticed him right away, “Human, I hope you’re ready for-” Clear looked around before looking at Ren, “Ren! Where’s your puzzle?”

“It’s on the ground right there,” He noticed a piece of paper lying on the snow, “Don’t worry, the human won’t get past it.”

He walked up and picked up the piece of paper. It was a simple word search that seemed to be meant for young Ultra’s. A part of him wanted to give it a try, but he didn’t have anything to write with, so he placed it back on the ground and walked up to the Ultra’s.

“REN! That didn’t do anything!”

“Hmm, the human must have found it too easy. Next time I’ll try using the crossword.”

“What?! Crossword?! That would have made it even easier for the human! You should have used the Junior Jumble, it’s way harder.”

“Junior Jumble? That easy word scramble? That’s for baby bots.”

“No. Way. Human! Tell us, which do you think is harder?”

His mind instantly jumped to the crossword just from the sound of it, but a part of him wanted to keep the promise he made to Ren, “I’ll have to agree with Clear on this one. If Junior Jumble was there, I would have been stumped.”

Clear let out a triumphant giggle, “I told you, Ren! Wow, humans must be more like us than I though if they also find Junior Jumble difficult,” He let out another laugh before he sprinted off.

“Thanks for saying Junior Jumble for him.”

“No problem. I can’t help but want to keep him happy.”

“Still, Clear can be a bit peculiar every now and then. Yesterday, he got stumped trying to solve the horoscope.”

He let out a small chuckle before he moved on. He found a small area with two tables, one holding a microwave, the other a plate of spaghetti. There was a note next to it and he read it.

 

**Human! Please enjoy this plate of spaghetti I made.**

**(Little do you know, this is a trap. A trap to entice you! You’ll be so busy eating, you won’t notice you aren’t moving forward! Fooled without you even realizing it!)**

**-Clear**

 

He checked out the place of spaghetti, but found that it had been completely frozen over due to the cold weather. It was completely solid, stuck to the plate, and he wondered for a moment if it was just a model. But then he saw the microwave wasn’t plugged into anything and he quickly put the pieces together. He continued on, dealing with more Ultra’s, including another anthropomorphic dog with a sword and shield and two other dog Ultra’s that were literally inseparable, and after solving a puzzle with two switches, a row of spikes was removed and Clear, who was standing on the other side, turned at the sound of them.

“Huh? You’re here? You didn’t fall for my trap?! And, if you don’t mind me asking, is there any left for me?”

He wanted to continue to please him, “Sorry, I ate it all.”

“Really?!” Genuine shock was on his face as he looked down, “Oh wow…”

“What is it?”

He looked back up at him, “It’s just that no one has ever really liked my cooking. You’re the first one,” A bright smile painted his face, “Human, I promise you this; just ask and I will make you all the pasta you could ever want!”

Clear started to walk off and he followed after him.

“Huh? You’re walking with me?”

“Well, this is where I’m heading, so I may as well.”

“Well, okay,” Clear let him walk with him before he spoke, “You know, Ren recently started collecting bones, but he likes to bury them all over the place. Why start a collection if you’re not going to keep it all together? Sometimes I wonder what will happen to him if he didn’t have me around all the time.”

“I can’t really imagine. You two go so well together, I can’t think of you two apart.”

“I know! Thanks!” Clear came to a stop in front of a puzzle and looked towards him, “Oh, I forgot to say this. While waiting for you, I decided to fix up my puzzle to make it look like me. But the snow froze over before I could finish, making the solution different than normal. So, even I’m not sure what the solution is. But, don’t worry! I have an idea. You can practice solving it and I can use it to find the answer. We’ll get through this one together!”

He was a bit confused with his plan, but he decided to go along with it. Clear watched as he tried to solve it. The pattern made it impossible for him to step over each switch once without stepping on one twice and failing. He decided to let Clear take a look as he tried to find a different solution. He managed to find a switch behind a tree that altered each switch to a specific pattern, and when he pressed the large button, the spikes blocking the path turned off.

“Wow! You solved it without my help!” Clear spoke as he looked back at him.

“Well, at least it made it easier for you.”

“You seem to really like puzzles, almost as much as I do. Then I can be sure that you’ll love the next one. At this rate, it might be too easy for you,” Clear ran off, a noticeable spring in his step that he couldn’t help but chuckle at.

The next space he found the two Ultra’s once more on the other side, a large rectangular shaped machine next to Clear and the large square space between him and the Ultra’s was covered in tiles painted in every shade of gray.

“Hey, the human has arrived! You’ll love this next puzzle, it’s pretty special!”

“Special how?”

“This one wasn’t designed by me or Ren. It was designed by the great scientist, Noiz. You see those tiles?” He looked down at the tiles, “When I press this switch, the tiles will change color. Each one has a different function. Red tiles are impassable, you can’t walk on them. Yellow tiles are electric, they will shock you. Green tiles are alarm tiles, they’ll summon an Ultra if you step on them. Orange tiles are orange scented and will make you smell sweet. Blue tiles are water tiles, you’ll have to swim through them. But if you smell like oranges and try to swim, the piranhas will bite you. Also, if a blue and yellow tile are next to each other, you’ll get zapped if you try to swim. Purple tiles are slippery, so you’ll slide right to the next tile. The soap smells like lemons, and the piranhas don’t like the smell, so purple and blue can be together. Lastly, pink tiles are completely normal, so you can walk on them as much as you want. That’s all. You understand?”

His brain felt like it was spinning from the vast amount of information, but he knew this was the only way through, “Yeah, I think I got it.”

“Excellent! Oh, there’s one last thing I forgot to say. This puzzle is completely random! It’ll create a puzzle that even I don’t know the answer to. So I hope you’re ready!”

Clear pressed the switch on the machine and the tiles started to flash in a variety of colors and patterns, the multitude of colors were changing at a rapid spontaneous rate. The flashing grew to an astounding rate, until it finally stopped, a path of pink tiles with red tiles on the side leading to them. The embarrassment of the situation caused Clear to slowly walk off, his face buried in his scarf. A small part of him wanted to laugh, but his pity for the Ultra overpowered it. He walked through the path and saw Ren was still there.

“You’ve been doing a pretty good job so far.”

“Thanks.”

“You know, that spaghetti Clear left back there, it wasn’t too bad for him. He’s been improving a lot ever since he started his cooking lessons with Koujaku. Pretty soon he’ll be able to make something that non-robot Ultra’s can eat.”

“That bad, huh?”

He gave a grim nod, “Robot Ultra’s don’t have taste buds, but he doesn’t really need to know that. I just want what’s best for him.”

“I know the feeling,” He continued on, solving more of the puzzles that lied before him and dealing with another dog Ultra that was covered in large thick armor and a spear, petting it as it trotted off. He made his way to a long suspended bridge. He was a bit hesitant at first to cross, but the bridge looked to be very sturdy, so he just made sure to take his time. But as he was reaching the end, he found Clear standing at the end.

“Human! This is your final and most dangerous challenge. Behold! The Gauntlet of Deadly Terror!” He found the bridge surrounded by a spiked ball, two spears, a lit torch, a cannon and a dog hanging by a rope, “With a push of the button, this will activate. Every part with violently attack, and there’s a very slim chance you’ll succeed. I hope you’re ready! Here goes!” Clear pulled a small device from his coat pocket and pushed the red button on it.

But nothing happened.

“Well, Clear? Aren’t you going to do it?”

“I am! Don’t rush me!” He pushed the button again, but still nothing. He pushed the button several more times, but the trap remained stagnant.

“It doesn’t exactly look activated, Clear.”

“That’s because…! Uh… it would be too easy for the human…” The sentence was a slight murmur that didn’t seem intentional to slip out. But when it did, he found a new statement to go off of, “Yeah, that’s it! This human is way too clever to fall for this, and I’m a Ultra of very high standards! I put so much effort and craft into my puzzles, and this is just too basic and simple to be a part of my work! Away it goes!” The weapons around him went away as Clear let out a relieved sigh. He couldn’t help but chuckle at it, something that Clear noticed, “Don’t laugh! You got off easy! This victory goes to me!” He tried to pull off a confident grin, but when the slightest hint of red came to his cheeks, he took off. He let out another chuckle as he reached the end of the bridge.

“I hope Clear isn’t too mad at me.”

“Don’t worry. This is the most fun I’ve ever seen him have, I don’t think he could be mad at you.”

“Thanks. That’s good to know.”

“So, what will you do now?” He looked at Ren confused, “If Clear does try to battle you, don’t forget what I said about his special attack.”

“I won’t.”

He continued down the path and made it to a small town. A large sign was at the entrance that said “Welcome to Snowdin”. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the pun. The town was covered in snow, the resident Ultra’s were all bundled up and chatting away happily like any normal person. Everything about it had such a quaint welcoming feel to it. Despite him feeling like he stuck out like a sore thumb, it really made him feel like he had never left the surface to begin with. He went inside the closest building labeled “Shop”. He saw the shopkeeper, an old looking woman with light brown hair and glasses and two bunny ears coming from her hair, stroking a sleeping dog with blonde fur. She looked at him and flashed a loving big smile.

“Hello! Welcome to Snowdin, traveller! Oh, I don’t recognize you. Are you new to Snowdin?”

“Yeah, I just got here.”

“Oh my! Here, take this. You might catch a cold if you stay out there for too long without a little warmth,” She handed him a dark red scarf and matching gloves.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure, sweetie! I must say, we haven’t had any new visitors here in a long time, not since those boys Ren and Clear.”

“Ren and Clear?”

“Yes. Do you know them?”

“Yeah, they led me here,” He left out the whole ordeal where they tried to stop him with ridiculous puzzles, “What can you tell me about them?”

“Not much, unfortunately. Those two are quite the mystery. They just showed up here five years ago. No one’s ever heard of them, yet they acted like they’ve lived here their whole life. But no one's ever complained, the two are such nice youngsters, especially that Clear! Oh, he is just the sweetest thing!”

“Trust me, I know. Thanks for the info, and the clothes.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all! If you need anything, you know where to go!”

“I’ll remember that.”

After buying a snack to curb his appetite, he went to explore the rest of the town. He found it to have a cozy little inn, a library (the sign of which was spelled wrong) that had many books on the history of the Underground, a small buffet called “Grillby’s” that a lot of Ultra’s were relaxing in, and a large house that was locked. He saw that the town had pretty festive look to it, almost like Christmas, though it wasn’t anywhere near December. He couldn’t tell if it was because the Ultra’s just liked the look of it or if they celebrate holiday’s differently down here. As he was walking, he felt something small slam right into him accompanied by a shocked shriek.

He looked down and saw a little girl dressed entirely in pink; pink boots, pink shirt, pink shirt, pink bracelets, even a pink headband with two fuzzy pink puffs on them. She was on the ground rubbing her head.

“Oh, I’m sorry-”

“MIO!”

Two little boys ran up to her. One was dressed all in green and was bundled up in long pants, a turtleneck, a hat and mask. The other was dressed in light beige with an oversized hamster sweater. The boys helped her stand up as they glared daggers at him.

“What did you do to our sister, you big jerk?!”

“N-Nothing-”

“Don’t worry, you dummies, I’m fine.”

She stood her ground as her brothers seemed to calm down.

“What exactly are you kids doing out here by yourselves? It can get pretty dangerous out here.”

“We’re not kids!” The green boy shouted, “We just haven’t gotten out growth sprout yet.”

“Look, we don’t have time to mess around! We gotta go find him!” The sister intervened as she looked at him, “Make sure you watch where you’re going next time!” The three kids dashed off before he could even reply.

 _"Well, aren’t those three just precious,”_ He sarcastically thought.

He continued on his way, finding a large path past the locked house. At the end of the road, he caught the sight of an all too familiar Ultra. He knew exactly what was coming.

He just hoped he was ready for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of things:  
> 1\. I can imagine me having Ren play Sans seems pretty wierd, but just stick with me on this. I'm trying to create a sort of unassuming jokester with this guy and I think he suits well for Sans in some of the later scenes.  
> 2\. I originally was going to have the Almates play the dogs, but considering how small they are, they really wouldn't be all that intimidating. So I decided to just keep them as quick mentions. So, there you go. I actually included Undertale characters in this. (And I guess I'm doing the same thing for Grillby)  
> And 3. Yes, the lady playing the shopkeeper was Yoshie. I figure I at least give her a small cameo since she was the only character I haven't given a role to yet. I might do the same for Tae, but I have to wait and see who I can get her to play.


	6. Little Curious and Confused Ultra

“Human…” The robot Ultra started, a look of soften determination and slight empathy in his pink eyes, “Please, allow me to speak about some complex feelings… like finding someone who enjoys what you do, works as hard as you do, wanting to be seen as something admirable. All these feelings… I believe you might be feeling these right now. I can’t imagine what that must be like. I’ve never had to feel such things like that, though, then again, I have never been human myself. There’s so much more about you that I don’t understand, and that makes me pity you even more, human.”

“Appreciate it.”

“But, that won’t be a problem anymore! I won’t let you be alone any longer! I swear to be your-” He stopped dead in his tracks, the excitement he had on his face vanished as he gazed in confusion at the snow covered ground.

“What is it, Clear?”

“No… this… this is all wrong. I’m not supposed to befriend you! You’re a human, I’m supposed to catch you! It’s the only way for me to achieve my dream! My future of fame, glory, recognition and prestige! My future as a royal guard, I can’t let it slip!”

With a newfound fierceness in his eyes, Clear locked eyes with him and opened the field.

“Clear, before you do fight me, I need to say something.”

“What is it?”

“Even though you’re trying to capture me, I do appreciate what you just said.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I was pretty damn nervous about traveling through on my own, yet ever since I meet you and Ren, I’ve been having a blast. And I have you to thank for that, Clear.”

A shock look filled his blank eyes, “Really?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t say something like this to someone actively trying to capture me if I didn’t really mean it.”

A bright flush lite up on his pale white cheeks as he looked down, “Such words… It almost sounds like… you’re flirting with me…”

He was taken back by this. _"_ _Clear must really not understand humans.”_

“Tell me…” Clear spoke before he could think further, “Do you think I’m… cool?”

“Of course I do. You’re fun, funny, a puzzle maker and a cook. That’s some pretty great qualities to have. Anyone would be proud to be your friend, especially me. I can cook myself and I wouldn’t mind giving teaching you some new things sometime.”

The pink on his cheeks spread to his entire face, his hands attempting to hide it, “That’s everything I’ve ever wanted to hear!!! If you’re saying all this to me… I have to do what’s right… and take you on a date,” He practically shook off the blush from his face and shouted “We'll date l-later, after I capture you!” before he sent a row of gears turning along the ground towards him. The gears went in a straight line, so he was able to avoid it easily.

Clear paused, waiting to see what he would do, before he asked, “You’re not going to fight back?”

He shook his head, “I have no reason to.”

“Very well, I guess it’s up to me then. Let’s see if you can handle my very own blue attack.”

Clear sent a mass of gears, all dyed in a light blue, towards him. Remembering his previous experience, he held completely still as each gear phased through him like a gust of wind. Just when he though he was done, he saw his red soul suddenly turn blue and drop to the ground. As it dropped, he felt like a hefty weight was placed on, nearly making him drop to his knees. A gear launched at him faster than he could react, hitting his soul and sending a harsh pain through his shoulder.

“What the…!”

“You’re blue now. That’s my attack!” He gave a light chuckle, “I hope your ready to fight back!”

Adjusting himself to the change in gravity, he stood up straight and gave a firm nod.

His soul, rather than being controlled by his hand movements, followed his body along the ground. It followed each step and movement he made to dodge Clear’s attacks. He also found that when he jumped, his soul leapt off the ground with him. This proved to be helpful when he wasn’t quick enough to move out the way.

Clear spoke to him, unleashing more gears at him with each sentence, “I really don’t want to do this, but I have no choice! My chance to finally be a royal guard is right in front of me! Fame, glory, idolization, everything I ever wanted will finally be granted to me! Koujaku will be so proud of me! Lord Mink will make a legend out of me! My time in the spotlight is so close, I can feel it!” He stopped his onslaught, “But, that doesn’t mean I will stop being nice to you. After I capture you, I’ll be sure to take you out sometime.”

“How can you be sure of that, though?”

“Huh?”

Taking a moment to breathe a sigh of relief from the moment of respite, he continued, “The Ultra’s that want me, they are deadset on getting me no matter what. Once they do, how can you be sure that they will even let you see me again, let alone take me out on a date?”

Clear took a moment to think, “That’s… That’s true. If I can’t ever see you again, then I can’t ever keep my promise and date you,” He tried to go back into his previous attitude, “But! I still have to try! Koujaku is counting on me!” His determined attitude faded with a sigh as he gave a simple glance, “If… If you can survive my special attack, I’ll let you go. I promise.”

“Sound good to me.”

“I’ll warn you, my special attack is something fabled! You better be ready!”

Clear let out more attacks, trying to stop him before he needed to use his special attack, but he kept himself afoot, refusing to fall now.

“You’re still here now… Then I have no choice! Here’s my special attack!!!”

Clear let out his hand, but nothing came. Confused, Clear looked behind him, and they both saw what, or rather who, had stopped his special attack. An Ultra, his physic roughly that of a small child, with paws and ears like a dog, was playing with a gear like a toy.

“HEY!” The Ultra’s ears perked up and his eyes widened when he heard Clear’s frustrated yell, “What do you think you’re doing?! I told you those gears aren’t collectables!” The Ultra grabbed the gear in his mouth before it ran off, pushing through an invisible wall as it left the field, “Wha- Come back here with my special attack!!!” Realizing the Ultra was gone, Clear let out a defeated groan.

“Sorry about that, Clear.”

“Thanks…” He spoke in an equally defeated tone as he turned back to him, “Well, I guess I’ll just have to use a really cool regular attack. Here goes!”

Clear put his all into his last attack, the final part summoning a giant gear nearly the size of a car that forced him to jump higher than he ever though he could just to avoid it. But he somehow managed. He saw that Clear had completely exhausted himself, as he was panting and holding himself up by his knees.

“You… You really are something… truly special, human…” He took a deep breath and stood up, “Well, a promise is a promise. If you can face all this, then I can’t ever beat you. You deserve my mercy.”

The field disappeared, and he saw Clear turn away from him, his head hanging down.

“Ohhh…”

He moved closer to Clear, standing a foot behind him, “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t even beat a simple human, not even one who didn’t even fight back. Koujaku’s going to be so upset with me. I won’t ever join the royal guard. And… I won’t ever have all the friends I could want…”

He saw Clear’s shoulders slump, and he raised his hand to grab his shoulder, “Don’t worry, Clear, you’ll get there someday. In fact, you’re already a little closer.”

“… What do you mean?”

“I’ll be your friend.”

Clear whipped around in a microsecond, his eyes twinkling with glee, “Really?! You actually want to be friends with me?!”  

“Of course. I told you before that anyone would be lucky to have you for a friend, even me.”

“Then, in that case…” A truly bright smiled graced his face, “I can definitely make an acception for you. I can’t believe it! We haven’t had our first date and I’m already in the friendzone!” He couldn’t help but chuckle at his demeanor, “To think, giving others bad puzzles and fighting them was the way to make great friends. I’m learning so much from you, human!”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

“It’s most definitely not nothing! To repay you, I’ll tell you how you can get back to your world.”

He was shocked, “You know how I can get back home?!”

“Of course! All you have to do is continue down this path and reach the capital,” He gestured to the path behind him, “Once you reach the capital, cross the barrier.”

“The barrier?”

“Yeah. It’s the powerful forcefield the humans created to keep us trapped here. Nothing can come from it and nothing can go through it. Except one with a truly powerful soul. You’re soul must be very powerful, so you should be able to go through with no problem.”

“Sounds promising.”

“There is just one thing, though.”

“What?”

“If you want to get to the barrier, you’re going to have to get through the king’s castle… and past Lord Mink. The king of all Ultra’s. He is, well…” A moment of fear was broken by Clear’s bright smile, “He’s the nicest guy ever!”

“R-Really?”

“Of course! Everyone loves Lord Mink! I’m sure if you just ask him if you can go home, he’ll guide you right to the barrier.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot,” He found himself confused. The fearful warnings Aoba gave him about Mink rang in his head, but Clear’s claims seemed to make them jumbled.

“Well then, I’ll head back home! I need to learn more on how to be a good friend. Come by when you want to have that date!” Clear gave a nod before he ran off in the direction of Snowdin.

He looked ahead at the path he needed to take, the snow covered ground ending to meet the rocky ground of the cave. He was more than ready to continue, but a part of him didn’t want to leave Clear waiting for him. He wasn’t sure when the next time he would be able to see him would be, so he might as well take advantage of the time he had now. He walked back to Snowdin, quickly finding Clear standing in front of the locked house he saw. He seemed to be completely engrossed in the book in his hands, so much so that he didn’t take notice of his presence until he was right next to him.

“Hey.”

Clear immediately stuffed the book into one of the large pockets on his coat and greeted him with a smile, “You’re here! Do you… want to go on that date?”

“I’d love to.”

“Gee… you must be really serious about this. Then I have to do so as well! I’ll take you somewhere special! Somewhere I like to spend my time at!” Clear thought for a moment, before an idea seemed to pop in his mind, “That’s it!” He went to the front door of the large house, pulling a key from his pocket, “My house!” Clear unlocked the door and he followed him inside.

The house was a simple two story home. The floor was covered by a light red carpet and the walls were covered in striped brown wallpaper. The bottom floor had a small living room and kitchen and the top had two rooms, the door near the stairs covered in stickers and the from the other he could hear the slight sounds of music.

Clear opened his arms in a welcoming gesture, “Welcome to our home! This is where Ren and I live.”

“Is Ren here?” His attention was focused on the room where the music was coming from.

Clear followed his gaze to the room, “Definitely. His next shift isn’t for a while, so he must be on break,” He looked back at him, “Anyway, you’re my guest, so feel free to look around.”

Clear stepped back as he began to look around the house. On the table near the door, he saw a plate that had a rock covered in sprinkles on it, “What is this?”

“That’s Ren’s pet rock. He always forgets to feed it, though, so I usually have to take responsibility.”

He went into the kitchen, Clear standing in the doorway. He looked in the refrigerator, noticing one side was full of food that Clear had labeled, the other half relatively empty.

“I guess you guys don’t eat much?”

“No, Ren just prefers to eat out. He tried making something once. It was supposed to be a quiche, but it was very sugary and yolky.”

“Was it good?”

“I can’t really say. Everything taste the same to me.”

He then remembered what Ren had told him about robot Ultra’s not having tastebuds. He decided not to press on and found himself dumbfounded when he noticed the sink.

“What’s this all about?”

“Impressive, right? I increased the height of the sink!” He noted how the sink seemed to almost touch the ceiling, “This way, I have more space to store my special gears. Take a look!”

He opened the closet sized door to the cabinet of the sink. He was greeted by the sight of the same Ultra that had stolen Clear’s special attack gathering a load of gears in his hands.

Clear stared dumbfounded, “What the-! Catch that canine!” The Ultra took noticed of Clear and bolted out from beneath the sink and out the door before either of them could catch them, “Curses!”

The sound of a “wah wah” trumpet came and the two looked up to find Ren, a trumpet in hand, peeking out through the previously closed door before he quickly ducked back into his room. “REN! Stop plaguing me with incidental music!”

Clear let out a frustrated sigh, the soft sound of Ren chuckling made it a bit hard for him to hold his own laugh back, but he managed and patted Clear on his back, “Sorry, again.”

“Thanks… again.”

Clear perked himself back up as he continued to look around. He found a discarded sock with a series of notes on it, detailing and argument between Ren and Clear about what to do with it. He figured it was best not to ask about it, given what just happened. He went to sit on the couch and heard the sound of jangling beneath him. He reached between the cushions and found a handful of loose change.

“Yeah, we tend to lose change in this couch a lot. You can keep it if you want.”

“Thanks.”

He reached for the remote and turned on the TV. The screen lit up with colored off-air bars with a message written in a fancy handwriting: “Stay Tuned For A Special Program- V&T”.

“Oh! This is my favorite show! Though I guess it’s on hold,” He looked at him, “I promise it’s usually better than this.”

“Don’t worry, I believe you.”

He turned off the TV and the two headed upstairs, going to the last place he has yet to seen.

“I’m guessing this is your room, Clear?”

“Yeah, it is. If you want, I can show you inside. I… guess it’ll be a good place to start the date,” He could see the confusion and hesitation on Clear’s face. His thoughts would have been normally quick to jump onto possible explicit thoughts, but this was Clear. He hardly knew if what he was doing was right, so there was no way he had any ulterior motives.

The two went inside the room. Clear’s room had a very childlike feel to it. A race car bed, a large bookshelf, and a table covered in action figures were proof of that. Though the room also had an old computer, a black flag hanging on the wall, and a box of gears in it. Clear let him look around and his caught on the bed. His eyes couldn’t help but lock onto the bed.

“Interesting choice for a bed.”

“Yeah, it kinda helps me live out a dream.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, every part of the Underground is connected and easy to access, so we don’t have any need to use cars. But, if possible, I could get back to the surface, I’d like to drive down a long road in a real car. I’ve read what it feels like in so many books, I wish I could experience it for myself. But, for now, that’s just a dream.”

“Well, who knows? Maybe you might get lucky someday and will be able to go to the surface. You keep holding onto that dream, OK?”

Clear gave a bright smile and nodded, following him to the table littered with action figures.

“These action figures are pretty fun, and are very useful in practicing battle strategies.”

“I can see that,” He noted the way some of the figures were set up, mimicking and actual battle, “You’ve got quite the collection here.”

“Yeah. I didn’t think I would get so many, but Ren said I deserved them. He told me about this man called Santa that brings gifts to good people. I didn’t think it was possible for that man to get to the Underground, but Ren said he can travel the entire planet in one night, so he should be able to get to the Underground, as well.”

He couldn’t help but marvel at the childlike gleam that he could see spark in Clear’s eyes. Clear almost seemed too innocent for his own good. His eyes drifted next to the flag hanging from the wall.

“The flag sure is neat, right? Koujaku found it for me at the bay, he said it came from the human world.”

He looked back at Clear, “How did this come from the human world to here?”

“Some of the best scientist in the Underground did some research on the waterfall that falls into the bay. They said something about there being a crack in the barrier separating the human world and our world that connects them from a river. So whenever something falls into that river in the human world, it gets brought here to our world. Koujaku hangs out at the bay a lot, so he always comes to show me what he found, and he eventually gave me that flag. I do wonder one thing about this flag, though.”

“What is it?”

“Why would a flag used by humans have a picture of a skellington on it? If it’s a human flag, then shouldn’t it have a picture of a human? Do humans have some sort of connection to skellingtons?”

“In a way you’re right.”

Clear gave a delighted chuckle as he continued to look around. The bookshelf was full of books on tactical battling and simplistic child books, the clothes in his closet were hung up neat and tidy, and the box of gears were apparently full of the attacks he had used against him. The last thing he went to check was the old outdated computer.

“Oh, the internet. I’m pretty popular on there. Just a few more followers and I’ll finally be in the double digits! Though, earning this fame is most definitely not easy.”

“How so?”

“This annoying troll is constantly messing with me, sending me all these bad puns in goofy fonts. They’re always filling up my entire message box!”

He gave a light chuckle, having a pretty good guess as to who it was but deciding it was best not to say it. He turned back to face Clear, “I think that’s just about everything.”

“Yeah, so…” Clear tapped his fingers together nervously, “Since you’ve seen everything… do you want to start the date?”

“Sure.”

“Alright, let’s start!”

He was caught off guard when the battlefield suddenly opened, though the atmosphere and feel of it felt much more calm and welcoming and his soul, rather than floating in front of him, was radiating light from within his body.

“I can’t believe we’re actually on a date! I’ll admit, I’m nervous. I’ve never done this before.”

“Same here. I’m not too experienced with this either.”

“Well, don’t worry! I always come prepared!” Clear reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the book he had seen him reading earlier, “I borrowed this dating rulebook from the library. This will make sure that we have the best time!” Clear opened the book to one of the earlier pages and read out loud, “Step 1: Befriend the person you wish to take on a date,” He looked up from the book and smiled widely, “Well, we’re already good friends, so that part is already done!” With a nod, he went back to reading, “Step 2: Politely ask them on a date,” Clear held the book down and cleared his throat before saying, “Human, I’d like to go on a date with you!”

He gave a warm smile, “I’d love to.”

Clear’s eyes shimmered and he gave the biggest smile, “Oh wow!” He calmed down a bit, “I guess we’re ready for the next one,” He looked down at the book, “Step 3: Put on nice clothes to show you care,” He stared blankly at the page for a few seconds, almost frozen.

“Clear?”

“Wait a second… wear nice clothing…” Clear held the book in one hand at his side as he stared at him, “That scarf and gloves you’re wearing… I don’t remember those from before.”

“Oh, these,” His hand moved up to fiddle with the scarf, “I got these from the shopkeeper when I first got here.”

“They look really nice… In fact, even before, you were wearing nice clothing…” His eyes widened as the book slipped from his fingers and his hands joined together on his chest, “You… have you… Have you been trying to get close to me from the very beginning?!?!?!”

The Ultra’s pure shock made him hesitate for a moment before answering, “Well… Yeah, I guess I have.”

Clear’s pupils shrunk to an absurdly small size, his monochrome face was bathed in pink, “I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! You’ve been planning this from the very beginning! You really are better at this than me!” His head dropped, his hair blocking his face. He noticed that Clear was beginning to shake and tremble.

“You okay, Clear?”

Clear remained silent before he let out a loud groan and shot his eyes back at him, fierce determination and unshakable confidence burning in his pale eyes, “I’M NOT GIVING UP JUST YET!!!” The tension in the air seemed to suddenly grow thick, “I won’t let you best me just yet! Even though I’ve never dated before, I can still do better than you! I can easily keep up with you! You seem to have underestimated me, since I can also wear nice clothing! In fact, I always keep a special outfit under my regular clothes. Just in case. Close your eyes!”

He listened and shut his eyes. He heard the sound of footsteps walking a distance away, clothes being shed and the footsteps returning, “Alright, you can open your eyes!”

He did so and was given a nice surprise. Clear was dressed in a fancy white dress shirt, black pants, gloves and shoes, and a tie hung from his neck and his scarf was tied around it, the loose ties hanging from his back. Clear flashed a brave smile, “What do you think of my secret style?”

“I love it! You look very nice!”

“S-Such a genuine compliment!” The pink returned to his face, but faded away in an instant, “However, you don’t understand the true power of this. So I can’t accept what you said! If you want to truly understand, you’ll have to find my secret. But good luck with that!”

Clear crossed his arms as he stepped forward to start searching for this “secret”. The first he checked was the pockets on his pants.

“Sorry, you won’t find anything there.”

“I can see that. Still, something is surprising,” His hands gently held his hips, “You are really skinny.”

“H-Hey! I can’t control that! This is just how I was designed and built. Though, on the plus side, I can eat as much as I want and not worry about losing my figure,” He gave a light chuckle as his hand went up to check to see if the secret was hidden under his shirt, but found nothing, “It’s not there either.”

“Mmhmm…” He couldn’t help but notice something, “I don’t feel a heartbeat.”

“Robot Ultra’s don’t have hearts. We’re kept alive by various circuits and components.”

 _"I wonder…”_ One hand went up and brushed Clear’s cheek. Even through the glove, he could still tell, “Your skin is really cold.”

“And yours is really warm,” Clear subconsciously leaned into his touch, “Is your heart keeping you warm?”

“Yeah, though it can’t always keep us warm. You got it pretty easy,” His hand brushed against Clear’s chest before he gave a teasing poke, “Though you’re not all that muscular.”

“J-J-Just because I don’t have muscles doesn’t mean I’m not strong!”

He chuckled, “I know. I’m just messing with you.”

Clear gave an exaggerated pout as his hand moved up and a finger hooked into Clear’s scarf, “Though this is weird. You’re wearing both a tie and your scarf.”

“My scarf…” Clear gave a sigh, “I guess you win,” He reached behind him and untied the knot holding the scarf up. When the scarf was removed from his neck, the sight of a small box decorated with a bow came into view. Holding the scarf in one hand, Clear held out the small box to him, “It’s a present f-for you.”

He took the present from Clear and opened the box, revealing a plate of spaghetti with a fork, “You made me spaghetti.”

“That’s right, but still wrong! It wouldn’t be right for me to give you just any simple old pasta, so I created this artisan work just for you. Every part was prepared and cooked to perfection by me. This is where it ends!”

He grabbed the fork and took a bite of the meal. His eyes widened and his face scrunched up at the first taste of it. It was something he never experienced before.

Clear’s eyes seemed to shine upon seeing this, “Such a passionate expression! I’ve never seen anyone look like that after trying my cooking. And to think, you’ve done this all… for me…”

It all seemed to happen in an instant. Clear’s entire body flashed a bright red before a large puff of smoke came off him and he sunk to his knees, letting out a loud groan as he looked ready to melt into the ground. He knelt down to look at him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Human… You… You care for me so much… Everything you’ve done… Everything you’ve said… It’s all been to make me happy… Human, you deserve to be happy to. Just as happy as you’ve made me. I have to do what’s right,” Clear looked up at him, his eyes filled with strong will, “Human, I…” The will in his eyes steadily faded, “I… um…” He looked away, “D-Do you feel hot here, too? I don’t think I’m overheating,” His eyes fell to the ground, a sense of disappointment clouding them.

“Clear…”

“Human… I’m so sorry. I can’t say it. I don’t… like you like that. I don’t really know what that feels like, but I was so sure if I went out with you that I could understand it. But… I don’t feel any different than I did before. And… all I’ve done is made it worse. I’m the one that asked you out and I allowed you to shower me with so much praise, and it was all for nothing. To think I could do this to my own friend! I’m such a horrible Ultra!” Clear buried his hands in his hair, his arms blocking his eyes from sight. He brought his hand up to comfort him, but was stopped when Clear practically ripped his hands off, an intense look on him, “No, this is wrong! I can’t mess up on something like this! Not after everything you’ve taught me! Human, please tell me… even after what I’ve done to you, is it possible… that I can still be you’re friend?”

He couldn’t help but laugh, “You really are silly, Clear.”

“Huh?”

“There’s no way I would stop being your friend just because you made one mistake. Even though things didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to, you still gave it your all and tried your best to make sure I was enjoying myself. And I did. So don’t worry, you have nothing to feel sorry for.”

Clear gave a warm smile, his eyes glistening, “Human… I’m so glad. I haven’t been the greatest friend, yet you still want to be my friend. Are you sure you’re not upset that I won’t kiss you?”

He ruffled his hand through Clear’s hair, unable to not notice how soft and real it felt, “Of course.”

Clear chuckled at the act, “Thank you!” He stood up and offered his hand to Clear, who grabbed it and stood up, “Oh! Human, do you have a phone?”

“Yeah.”

“May I see it?” He handed Clear his phone and watched as he quickly pressed multiple buttons, “Aaand… there!” He handed the phone back to him, “Now you have my phone number. If you ever need anything or just want to speak to me, feel free to call.”

“Thanks.”

“My pleasure! Oh, I have to go. I’m supposed to meet with someone. See you around!”

Clear waved as he left the field as it dissipated. Back in the normal world, he looked at the phone and saw the number for Clear was labeled “My Best Ultra Buddy :3”. He couldn’t help but chuckle at this.

Clear really was too innocent for his own good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this, been handling a lot this past two weeks, especially since a lot of my friends and family members have birthdays that fall on this month.  
> BTW, for those wondering, the next chapter for With Just One Moment will be up either tomorrow or the day after. You've all had to wait long enough for that.


	7. Broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a while for me to finish, but once you read it, you'll find out why.  
> Once again, sorry if I break any fans hearts or trigger some serious ptsd.

“We’ll date l-later, after I capture you!”

As Clear sent another row of gears towards him, he used this moment to try and think about the whole situation.

He knew that the Ultra’s were pretty out of times, but Clear seemed to be quite the special case. He was so quick to promise a date between them despite that they barely knew each other, and the sweet words of desire that Clear interpreted were, to him, just simple kind words to say to someone. But it made him wonder: did Clear have genuine interest in him, or was he just confused as to how he was supposed to handle this situation? And how exactly did he feel about Clear? He had been so much fun to be around in the short time they spent together and had made him feel much more confident about exploring the world of the Ultra’s. But did he want to date Clear just as much as the Ultra seemed to want to?

He was so caught up in his many thoughts, he didn’t take notice of the gear charging towards him until they were mere inches from his soul. As a last second defense mechanism, he used the knife he had picked up as a makeshift shield, stopping the gear in place. It was still rotating at a menacing pace, sparks flying of the blade as it trying to break its way through the thin metal to his soul. Summoning forth his strength, he managed to push the gear away, sending it towards Clear and it hit him dead square on his right eye.

He let out a pained scream, the sound of metal being struck echoed throughout the field. Both his hands gripped against his right eye and he noticed that steam was coming from it and some strange particles were falling from his face.

“Clear!”

The Ultra removed his hands from his face, showing that the skin around his right eye was torn, revealing the metal body underneath and his large eye that was slightly cracked. The sight of it was downright mortifying.

Clear panted as he spoke, “Heh… you… you’re really strong… to have sent it back…” He straightened himself up, “But I can’t give up!”

Clear continued to relentlessly attack him, barely giving him a moment to breathe or think of his next move other than to just keep defending. More instances came up where he had to block a gear head on sent it hurtling back to Clear, the force of them were slowly breaking certain parts of his body, the evidence of that visible through his torn clothing. At one point, Clear summoned forth a gear in his hand, sending it spinning at a blazing pace. The Ultra charged at him, the gear in hand coming straight for him. He brought the knife back up to protect his soul, blocking the gear. Sparks cascaded off into a waterfall, making it almost compromisable to a saw blade, so much that he had to use his free arm to steady the blade and ensure his grip wouldn’t falter. Clear pushed harder against the gear, trying to break through the makeshift barrier.

But this backfired in the worst way possible.

Clear’s hand went too close to the violently spinning blade-like gear and, in a mere second, the skin of on his entire left arm was ripped off, shredded to pieces like flimsy paper. The Ultra let out a loud pained scream, gripping his now skinless arm, the metal build clear as day and was on full display even past the sleeve of his coat. Before he could even decide whether he wanted to say sorry or check on Clear first, a stray gear came hurtling towards him. He quickly swatted it away and sent it straight to Clear.

Right into his chest.

The edge of the gear embedded itself deep into his body. Panicked, Clear frantically grabbed at the gear and started to pull the gear out, paying no mind to the scraping sound of metal and the sparks flying from his body as he desperately tried to removed the gear from his body. With one harsh tug, he pulled the gear from his body, a massive amount of dark liquid expelled from his body. With shaky breaths, he dropped the gear and fell to his knees, the field evaporated the moment his body hit the ground.

“CLEAR!”

He ran up to the collapsed Ultra and kneeled down in front of him. He saw that the dark liquid that was now oozing from his body was oil, the front of his shirt was ripped, revealing the metallic chest that was caved in by the gear. Clear tried to sit up, but a monumental spark came out from him, making him drop back down. He layed on his side, his exposed eye looking up at him, “I… I guess… I shouldn’t have p-pulled the gear out so q-q-quickly… right…?”

He shook his head, “It’s not your fault, Clear. It’s mine. I didn’t mean for you to get this hurt.”

“… I know…”

“You need to get up, Clear. You need to get fixed. Tell me where Ren is and I’ll take you there.”

“I-It’s okay. You can keep going… Ren will find me and… fix me…”

“Clear, I can’t just leave you here by yourself!”

“But… you need to go somewhere, right?” His metallic hand reached out and grabbed his hand, the metal cold to the touch, whether because of the material or the snow it was buried in he didn’t know, “I don’t… really know h-how to be a good friend… b-but… if you have somewhere you need to go… t-then I… I shouldn’t stop you…”

“Clear…” To think he still wanted to be his friend even now.

The Ultra took raspy breaths, sparks coming off him as he spoke, “Hah… I-It hurts… But I know… Ren… You’ll… You’ll fix… fix… m… me…”

With one last spark, he watched as the pink in Clear’s eyes dulled to a hollow grey and his body stilled to a halt. Trying his best to hold his tears back, he turned his hand to grab the metallic hand. His free hand reached up to the Ultra’s face, lightly brushing against his hair and feeling the cold metal skin beneath.

_"I’m sorry, Clear… I’m sorry, Ren…”_


	8. Into the Caves

Leaving the quaint little house, he went back to the path he was previously on and continued forward. The snow covered ground surrounded by large dark trees slowly melded into large long cave walls with brightly glowing jewels embedded into the walls and floor, illuminating the cave walls in a comforting light. Large blue flowers were scattered along the walls, some of the whispering words in a repeated mantra. The river he had passed through during his walk through the forest was more than present. The sound of running water echoed all throughout the walls, the riverbank running alongside the path and many small waterfalls cascaded around him. As he walked into the cave, he came across something surprising. Ren was sitting at a small concession stand looking rather bored, one hand holding up his chin, the other was mindlessly tapping against the stand, his long fingernails scraping the wooden surface.

“Ren!”

The Ultra turned his head towards the human and gave a light smile, “Looks like you finally made it.”

“Yeah. But why are you here? I though you worked in the forest.”

“Is it really that strange for someone to have multiple jobs?”

“No, not really.”

“Besides, having more jobs gives me more ample time to relax in between shifts,” Now that sounds more like Ren, “Actually, I was about to head to Grillby’s. Want to come along?”

“Sure,” He hadn’t had anything really substantial to eat in a while, and a part of him wanted to get the taste of Clear’s cooking out of his mouth.

“All right, follow me. I know a shortcut,” Ren came out from behind the stand and walked up to him, “I’ll need you to close your eyes. I want to keep this secret.”

He listened and closed his eyes, feeling Ren’s hand on his back, guiding him where to walk. The quite atmosphere was quickly replaced by several overlapping voices in a matter of a few steps. He felt Ren stop him before he tapped his shoulder.

“You can open your eyes.”

He did and found that they were now in Grillby’s, the place just as lively as it was when he was exploring Snowdin. Though the fact that they were able to get here so quickly baffled him. He looked at Ren, dumbfounded, “I’m not even gonna ask how you did that.”

“Fine by me.”

The two walked up to the booth in front of the restaurant, the Ultra’s that were occupying the tables saying hi to Ren as they passed by them.

“You sure are well known around here, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Ultra’s around here are very easy to get along with. Here, take a seat.”

Two empty seat available, Ren sat on the right and he moved to sit on swivel seat next to him. But as he sat down, a familiar sound came. He reached between him and the seat and pulled out a whoopee cushion, casting Ren and exasperated glare.

“You should really be careful where you sit. Some Ultra can be pretty mischievous.”

He just silently tossed the whoopee cushion behind him, figuring it best not to press on, though he was a bit curious on how Ren got it there that fast without him noticing.

“Anyway, what would you like? Burger or fries?”

“I’ll take a burger.”

“Sounds good. Grillby,” The Ultra, a well dressed humanoid figure with a head made of fire and sunglasses over invisible eyes, looked at the, “We’ll have two burgers.”

With a nod, Grillby walked off into what seemed like a back room. He looked over to Ren, who was wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

“A little hot?”

He nodded, “Grillby is a nice guy, but the heat is rather hard to get accustomed to. I guess I’m still not used to it. Perhaps I’ll try coming here more.” Placing the handkerchief back into his pocket, he looked back at him, “Hey, I was wondering? What do you think of Clear?”

“He’s pretty cool,” He answered without hesitation.

“Nice to hear. I’m always worried that Clear might come on a bit too strong whenever he meets someone new, but they always come to like him in the end. Maybe I’m just worrying too much.”

“I don’t really think that’s a bad thing. Clear is your best friend, after all. It’s normal to look out for them.”

“I see.” At that moment, Grillby came back from the room and placed two burgers in front of them. Ren handed him a bottle of ketchup, “Want some?”

“Sure,” He grabbed the bottle and tipped it over the burger. But, before he knew it, the entire contents of the bottle spilled out onto his plate.

“Oh, I forgot I had that bottle set up.”

“I can tell,” The once appetizing meal now looked like it had fell victim to a brutal accident. He watched as Ren pushed the ketchup covered plate aside, the other untouched burger in front of him.

“You can have it. I’m not that hungry.”

“Thanks,” He placed the empty condiment bottle on the table and immediately started eating. He can’t remember the last time he relished in such a simple meal.

A few seconds of silence passed before Ren spoke again, “Anyway, no matter what others think of Clear, you can’t deny how hard he tries. He’s been pushing himself ever since he decided to join the royal guard.”

“Really?” He asked during a brief pause of his meal.

He nodded, “One day, he decided to speak the head of the royal guard, Koujaku. He thought that if he could convince him that he was worthy of being a member of the royal guard, he could have a better chance. Though he didn’t get the best answer from Koujaku, mainly because he showed up at his house at midnight,” He chuckled a bit before Ren continued, “The next morning, he saw that Clear was waiting for him to wake up so he could ask him when he was in a better mood. Koujaku was pretty impressed by his dedication, so he decided to start training him to be a proper soldier. It’s still a work in progress, but I have faith that Koujaku can lead him down the right path.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” He finished his meal and grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth.

“Actually, there’s something I want to ask you,” He sudden serious tone in his voice made the atmosphere around them grow more tense, “Since you’ve been down here, have you heard about a ten armed woman?”

He felt his blood freeze solid at the words, “Yeah, I have.”

“It’s a bit of an urban legend recently, a lot of Ultra’s have been talking about it. Bizarre things are usually normal in the Underground, but this is pretty strange. And it’s just making my worries for Clear even stronger.”

“Why’s that?”

“The other day, Clear told me something strange. Sometimes, when no one's around, this woman with ten arms appears and whispers things to him. Flattery, advice, encouragement… predictions. It doesn’t make any sense to me. I just hope that this is just some elaborate joke some Ultra is doing for the fun of it. Make sure you keep an eye on him just in case, alright?”

“No problem,” He gave a firm nod, _"Usui better not be thinking of doing anything to Clear. I’m the one she seems to want; he has nothing to do with this!”_

The tense atmosphere between them faded, and the jovial feel of the diner had returned, “Well, I think I’ve been here long enough. My breaks usually aren’t this long, but I don’t mind telling you this.”

“Glad to hear that.”

Ren turned in the chair and stood up, looking back at him, “By the way, do you think you can pay the bill this time? It should be about 10,000 G,” He was completely stunned, but Ren soothed him after a quick chuckle, “Don’t worry, I’m joking. Grillby, put this on my tab.”

After a relieved laugh, he got up from the seat and walked to the front door with Ren, “Thanks for this, by the way.”

“It was nothing. I was going to tell you something, but I forgot. If I see you again, I’ll let you know.”

“All right.”

“I’ll take you back to the cave. We’ll get there faster using the shortcut.”

“Sounds good,” Ren stopped him before he could step forward, tapping the side of his own eyes, “Oh, right,” He closed his eyes once more, Ren’s hand rested on his back again, guiding him. In the same amount of steps they took before, the lively sound of the diner melded into the quiet ambiance of the cave. Feeling Ren tap his shoulder, he opened his eyes and found they were back in the cave in front of Ren’s station.

“I swear you Ultra’s never stop surprising me.”

“Good to know. You’re heading down this path, aren’t you? Be careful. I don’t think I’ll be able to always keep an eye on you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Thanks for everything,” Waving goodbye to Ren, he went down the path.

The cave was enormous. Many well built wooden bridges connected the rocky paths. A large waterfall flowed down before him, the water pooling into a small portion of land, the overflowing water falling down into the dark abyss below. He couldn’t tell if the caves were bottomless or not, the light coming from the jewels didn’t seem to be able to reach the darkness consuming the land below him. Trying not to let the possible threat overwhelm him (especially with the horrid possibility of what would happen if he would fall), he continued down the path, crossing over the waterfall. The path ahead seemed darker than before, his shadow heavy on the ground, and he noticed a large patch of grass in the path. It was tall and thick, surpassing his height. With no other option, he started to make his way through the path, trying not to get tangled up in the towering blades of grass. But when he stopped for a moment to move the grass out of his face, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming from above.

He sank into the grass, holding himself still and silencing his breath, trying to avoid making the slightest noise. The heavy footsteps ceased and he heard the sound of a man letting out a sigh. Another set of footsteps, much lighter this time, started to come closer and a familiar voice echoed throughout the cave.

“H-Hey, Koujaku…”

_"Clear!"_

“Glad you made it, Clear,” Another male voice, this one more mature and broad, “Anything to report?”

“Yes, actually! I… I encountered a human.”

“You did?!”

“Yeah! And I tried my very best and did everything you taught me!”

“Fantastic! Were you successful in capturing the human?”

“O-Oh… um… n… no. I couldn’t do it…”

“Hey, don’t let it bring you down, Clear. You did your best and you’re already looking like you’re in perfect condition. Now that you’ve weakened the human down, you should have an easier time capturing them.”

“B-But that’s the problem! See I-I… I can’t hunt down this human anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because… the human’s my friend.”

“WHAT?!” His yell echoed through the entire cave.

“I-I-I didn’t mean to do it! I swear! I really was trying to capture him like you told me! B-But… he was a lot stronger than me… a-and I found that he liked a lot of things I do… and he’s already taught me so much about humans. They’re actually a lot more like us than I thought. And I’m sure that if you got to meet him, you’d probably li-”

“That’s enough, Clear!” His commanding tone shut the other Ultra up. He let out a sigh, “I was worried this would happen. You’re still too soft, Clear. If you keep doing this, you’ll never get any closer to becoming a true royal guard.” Clear let out a disappointed sigh, “Just leave this to me. I’ll have that human apprehended in no time.”

“No! Koujaku, please don’t-”

“Clear, this _needs_ to be done. That human is the only thing keeping us from having our freedom. Once we have him, we’ll finally be free. Don’t you want that?”

“Y-Yeah, I do, but-”

“Then you should understand why we need to do this. So go back home and continue your training. I’ll take care of everything.”

“... Okay.”

Clear’s disappointed tone faded into the depths of the cave as the sound of his footsteps slowly walked away. Once he knew Clear was gone, his thoughts focused on Koujaku.

_"I know that Clear has a long way to go if he wants to join the royal guard, but Koujaku doesn’t have to be so rough on him!"_

His leg shifted a mere inch, the grass crunching beneath his shoe. His hand immediately covered his mouth when he heard Koujaku respond to the noise and started to walk closer. Looking up, he noticed Koujaku’s figure come into the light. He was clad in thin but sturdy looking armor. He noticed that his entire head was wrapped in a dark blue cloth, his left red eye was exposed, but his left was covered by dark blue hair. From the sheath on his back, he pulled out a long, thick sword as his eyes scanned the area, looking for the source of the sound. Even though he could see him clearly, it seemed like Koujaku was unable to see him. After a few seconds, he watched as Koujaku placed the sword back into its sheath and slowly backed away from his sight. A few steps and the cave was once more silent. Feeling safe again, he let out the breath he had been holding in and felt his heart finally relax.

“That was way too close…” He pushed his way through the rest of the grass, finally making his way to the other side, “I think I might be seeing him again.”

He heard the rustle of the grass, and he quickly turned and saw the three kids he bumped into in Snowdin come out of the grass patch.

The boy in beige shot his arms up in excitement, “That was AWESOME! Did you see that?! Koujaku was right there!”

The boy in green nodded vigorously, “That’s the closest we got to him so far!”

The girl placed her hands on her sides, “I told you he would be here. This is our big chance.”

“What are you kids doing here?”

The girl turned to him and pouted, “We told you we’re not kids! And don’t you have any manners?! We have names you know!”

“Sorry,” He said with slight sarcasm, “What are you names?”

“Mio,” The girl said.

“Kio,” The boy in green said.

“Nao,” The boy in biege said.

“Alright. Mio, Kio, Nao, it’s nice to properly meet you. But, still, why are you three here? Don’t you know this place is dangerous?”

“We’re trying to meet Koujaku!” Nao answered.

“Koujaku is one of the strongest, greatest and coolest Ultra’s in all the Underground!” Kio added.

“We want to get just as strong as Koujaku. And I heard he was around here, so we came here to look for him.” Mio said.

“Well, that’s a nice thing to strive for… I guess. But, still, you really shouldn’t be out here without someone else. There’s no telling what might happen if you travel here alone.”

Nao pointed at him, “Then you can come with us!”

“Huh?!”

Mio crossed her arms, “Yeah! If you’re such a smarty pants and think you know what we should do, you can come with us!”

The three kids ran up to him and grabbed his arms, trying to pull him along. He was able to keep himself still, finding that the three Ultra’s were surprisingly strong, “Look, as much as I want to keep an eye on you, I can’t. I have somewhere I need to go, too.”

The three of them let him go and Kio spoke, “But you are still going to be around here, right?”

“For the most part.”

“Then if we run into you, we’ll ask you for help! If we need it anyway!” Mio answered smugly before looking at her brothers, “Come on, let’s go!”

The three Ultra’s ran off before he could even respond. He let out a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling an unbearable weight drop on his shoulders, “Great. Now I got two things to worry about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am looking forward to the next few chapters. Koujaku surprisingly fits well for the role of Undyne and that just makes it all the more easier for me to write him.  
> Hope you're all excited.


	9. Always on the Run

He felt as though several waves of emotions was coursing through his body, alternating between which one wanted to be most prominent in his mind.

The first wave was of fear and anxiety, obviously stemming from his near encounter with Koujaku and knowing that he could be anywhere at any time. He had every intention to avoid running into the Ultra at all cost, but every part of him was praying it would be as easy.

The second wave was of concern and worry, this stemming from the three young Ultra’s. Even though he was aware of the Ultra’s slow growths and longer life spans, he still worried if those three were getting in way over their heads. Sure, the fact that they are Ultra’s means that it’s very unlikely that the other Ultra’s inhabiting the caves will attack them, but there still are some other dangers the three of them could get into. It made a part of him want to run into them as often as possible if it meant he could keep an eye on them.

The last wave was of curiosity and uncertainty, this stemming from his surroundings. Now that he was no longer in the comforting atmosphere of Snowdin and Ren and Clear weren’t around, he felt his nerves once more standing on end just as they did when he left Aoba’s home. What he was getting himself into was extremely dangerous and it was only going to get harder from here on out, but if this was the only way he was going to get back home, there was no turning back. So he pressed forward.

The caves were very quiet, the distant sound of the whispering flowers and chatter of cave dwelling Ultra’s, very different from Snowdin that, while peaceful and calming, felt very active and lively. It gave him time to focus and think on the best means of staying alive, but it just didn’t feel right to not have Clear alongside him, full of energy and eager to learn more about humans.

But he refused to allow his focus to waver and continued on the path. The cave was relatively simple in structure and easy to navigate. Occasionally he would have to make a path over the streaming water using special flowers that bloomed into a sturdy makeshift bridge when lined up in a row. There was also the occasional Ultra to deal with. The Ultra’s that dwelled in the cave seemed to be much more hostile than the ones on the path to Snowdin. Perhaps the change in environment had some affect on their behaviour or made it easier to attack him, but if this meant this is how things would become as he continued, he guess he’d just have to deal with it.

After crossing another makeshift flower bridge, the phone in his pocket rang. He answered right away, not checking to see who it was.

“Hello?”

**“Hey! It’s you!”**

He recognized that cheery voice right away, “Clear! Wait, how did you get this number? You gave me your number, but I didn’t give you mines.”

**“Oh, getting your number was easy! I just dialed every number possible until I got yours.”**

He chuckled at his behavior, “Clear, you’re the best.”

 **“Thanks! You’re amazing, too!”** He cleared his throat, **“Actually, I wanted to ask you something. That scarf and those gloves you were wearing… are you still wearing them?”**

“Why do you want to know that?”

**“Um, one of my friends said he saw you wearing that scarf and those gloves… but you aren’t wearing them anymore, right?”**

He knew right away just who that friend was. He looked down at his free hand. He did still have the gloves on, the scarf as well, but with the warm air of the cave he didn’t really have any need for them, so he answered, “Don’t worry, Clear, I’m not wearing those anymore.”

**“I see. Got it! You’re my friend so I trust your word. Bye!”**

Clear hung up before he could even respond. But he just shrugged it off. This was Clear after all. Placing the phone back in his pocket, he didn’t waste a second before removing the gloves and scarf and discarding them on the ground before continuing on.

The next room he came to was called the “Wishing Room”. The flowers spoke of how Ultra’s would come to this room to make wishes since the gems covering the dark ceiling of the cave sparkled like stars. There was a telescope that was in the room allowed him to see the ceiling, which was covered in many gems and what appeared to be paintings of the moon and clouds. Seems like the Ultra’s wanted to make it feel as genuine as possible. He noticed that something was written on the lens of the telescope and when he angled it up to look at one of the painted clouds, he saw it read “Check Wall”. He looked away from the telescope and saw that there was a path that seemed to be a dead end. He walked up to it and placed his hand on the wall. The instant he did, the wall crumbled away, revealing the opening to the next room.

The room was covered in water, a wooden boardwalk was built, making it easier to traverse. Ancient scriptures were written on the walls of the cave, speaking of the war between the humans and the Ultra’s. The words were faded, likely from years of exposure to the caves moist air, but he was able to make them out:

 

_"Why would humans, the very beings that gave us life, attack us?_

_In retrospect, our demise was inevitable._

_Humans are not only fearless, but possess a power unlike any other._

_It would take the combined strength of every Ultra soul in the Underground just to equal the power of one human soul._

_However, that very power is far more fatal than perceived._

_A human soul is so powerful that it can persist outside of its body, even after death._

_And should a Ultra defeat a human and steal its soul, that Ultra shall be granted power beyond anything fathomable._

_But the Ultra that existed beforehand will no longer exist._

_In it’s place instead; a horrid being of uncontrollable destruction and a desire only to kill everything in its path…”_

 

He was staring entranced at the drawing on the wall. An Ultra in possession of a human soul, a terrifying being capable of obliterating everything; the thought of it alone made his skin crawl. And it made him think some rather disturbing questions.

 _"The Ultra’s that want my soul… is this why they want it? Just to become stronger? … No, I heard Koujaku say something about how he’s hunting me down because the king asked him to. I don’t think the king would do something like this to his people. But, still, Aoba warned me about him, so who knows what they want with me?”_ He let out a sigh, “I shouldn’t think about this too much, I gotta keep going.”

Tearing his gaze from the old writings and the disturbing drawing, he made it past a long bridge and to the next area. The land was still submerged in water, but there was a path of dry land to his left that seemed to stretch as far as the boardwalk. Long thick pillars of stone blocked the view of most of the path and it dimmed the light coming from the crystals. His shadow laid heavy on the wooden path and once more he felt his heart began to race and the hairs on the back of his neck slowly stood up straight. He took a deep breath, calming himself down as he began to walk forward.

But not five steps later he was halted as a blood red sword came and stabbed down right in front of him. His heart froze and his breath halted when he felt the rush of wind from the sharp blade. He looked at the direction the blade came from and found Koujaku standing on the opposite path in full view between two pillars. His body was cloaked in shadows, but his single red eye glared at him from the darkness.

Two more blood red swords materialized next to Koujaku and aimed straight at him at blinding speed. He didn’t have time to move out the way. Once the swords hit him, he was transported onto the field and was greeted by a wave of swords coming straight for him. There were too many for him to completely dodge and his soul was hit, sending a sharp pain through his arm akin to being stabbed. He was brought back to the real world and found Koujaku glaring at him.

“I was hoping that would be enough to kill you,” More swords appeared, “This time I will succeed!”

The swords launched at him but he moved out of the way in time. Without a second thought, he shot down the path, running like his life depended on it (which it actually did). But Koujaku wasn’t willing to let him go that easy. On the path parallel to him, Koujaku ran at the same pace as him, relentlessly attacking him with the swords. He had to keep an eye on the angle the swords were coming at him from and the weaving path ahead of him as he maintained his pace. A herculean task, but one he managed until the path Koujaku was on ended. The Ultra came to a screeching halt and he rushed forward down his path. But he heard the sound of someone landing on the path a few feet behind him, and the sound of rushing footsteps and blood red swords flying past his head made him kick it into overdrive. His kept his gaze forward, not daring to look back, and noticed the wooden walkway ending and melding back into the caves rocky floors. Another large patch of grass was ahead of him and he immediately doved into it. He tried to quickly weave through it until he tripped over a large mass.

Koujaku came up to the grass patch, noting where the blades suddenly stopped moving. He walked up to the spot and quickly doved his hand down into the grass, picking up what he grabbed.

A young Ultra girl dressed in pink.

He set the Ultra back down into the grass. The target must have gotten away. He briskly walked out from the grass and set off to continue his search.

Once he saw that Koujaku was gone, he let out the breath he had been holding in and felt his heart ease up. Standing up from the ground, he made his way out the grass patch on the other side. He heard the grass moving behind him and he turned to find what he expected. Mio, Kio and Nao came out from the grass, Mio’s eyes were wide and sparkling.

“He… He…”

“MIO!” Her brothers hugged her at both sides.

“Koujaku touched you!” Kio squealed.

“You’re the luckiest Ultra ever!” Nao yelled.

“I’m never washing this shirt again,” She whispered in delight, her eyes lost in an overjoyed trance.

Nao looked at him, “You sure lucked out. Had you not tripped over Mio you could have gotten touched.”

 _"So that’s what I tripped over.”_ He put on a smile, “Well, there’s plenty more chances for me. I’m glad you got this one.”

Kio grabbed his siblings, “Come on, we gotta find Koujaku! We’re not letting you get the only luck, Mio!”

The three Ultra’s ran off, eager and excited. Taking a moment of solace from the returned peace of the cave’s environment, he continued down the path.

He quickly found Ren setting up a telescope.

“Hey Ren. What are you doing here?”

He looked at him, “I’m considering setting up a telescoping business here. This is a really popular place for Ultra’s to come, so it’ll be profitable. Since I know you, though, I’ll let you try it for free. Would you like to try it?”

“Sure,” He went up and peered through the telescope, but found that everything was a bright red. He looked up from the telescope.

“Not too satisfying, huh? Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t let you pay for it. Oh, hold on, you got something on your face.”

Ren took the handkerchief from his pocket and whipped it over the eye he used to look through the telescope. When he pulled back and saw the handkerchief was covered in red paint, he quickly put two and two together and gave a light chuckle before saying bye to Ren.

If the caves were lovely to look at before, now they exuded beauty. Bridges were built to connect the floors of the cave from the water, resembling some type of swamp. But it was easily the most stunning swamp he ever set foot in. The water was glowing a lovely bright blue, giving off some vibrant ethereal energy as small specks of light floated from the water to the ceiling, giving it a more authentic look with the star-like gems. Even the small blades of grass on the path and plant life growing in the water were illuminated by the water’s light. A part of him wanted to test and see if the water had some sort of magic to it or if it was just really bright, but he couldn’t allow himself to get distracted.

As he found himself staring at the unnatural display of the water and the surroundings, he felt his phone ring again and he went to answer it.

“Hello?”

**“Hey! It’s me!”**

“Hey Clear. What’s up?”

**“You remember when I asked you about your clothes?”**

“Yeah.”

**“That was for the friend who asked about you. His opinion on you isn’t very good. It’s actually rather… grim. I don’t think it would be good if he found you all alone. But it’s okay! I’m here to help! Since you told me you weren’t wearing the scarf and gloves, I told him you were. Now, if he does find you, I’m sure he won’t attack you.”**

“I see. So that’s why you wanted to ask me.”

He heard Clear sigh on the other end, **“Man, being a good friend to everyone is hard. I felt really bad lying to him like that, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”**

“Trust me, I know it can be a pain sometimes. But you’ll get the hang of it with some practice. Thanks for looking out for me though. You’re already becoming a good friend.

He could practically hear him beaming, **“I’m glad to know I’m doing a good job! Hope I can talk to you later!”**

“Same here,” He hung up the phone. Even though he knew Clear’s efforts to protect him from Koujaku didn’t help in the least, he still felt grateful to know that even outside of Snowdin, the robot Ultra was also looking out for him.

As he continued to traversed the glowing area, he found more old writings on the walls. The contents of it caused him to stop and ruminate on them.

 

_"The power we have, the power to take a soul, this was something the humans feared._

_A power like this cannot be countered._

_For a human cannot take the soul of an Ultra._

_When and Ultra dies, their soul disappears instantaneously._

_And it would take a power far greater than a human can manage to steal the soul of a living Ultra._

_There is one great exception to this._

_Some Ultra’s are rarely gifted with powerful souls, ones that allow them to persist after death, though only for a few precious seconds._

_But this is a phenomenon that has yet to ever occur._

_And now, it likely never will.”_

 

Reading these scriptures made him lost in his own thoughts.

_"So, not only can an Ultra take my soul, I could take theirs. But what would happen to me if I did? Would I turn into something like that drawing? Would I get even stronger but lose my mind? Or would I just go on like nothing happened knowing that an Ultra’s soul is within me? Honestly, I’m not willing to try and find out. I just need to get out of here.”_

He continued onward. There was room with a piano where he had to play a melody he heard from a statue to obtain some treasure, but a sneaky dog Ultra took it before he even got the chance. It was pretty surprising but he decided not to linger on it for too long. Eventually he found that there was a pail of umbrella with a sign next to it saying: “Rainfall ahead. Take one.” He grabbed one of the umbrella’s, a bright red one, and walked down the path. The rainfall seemed to be caused by the many waterfalls flowing overhead and the splashes of water. He walked forward, minding the puddles on the ground, until he heard three familiar voices.

“HEY!”

He looked to the side and found the three Ultra’s huddled together in a corner spared from the rain.

“Are you three okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Kio answered, “We were just so excited that we forgot to grab an umbrella.”

“If we get sick, mom’s gonna know we were here! And I don’t think telling her we were looking for Koujaku will make her less mad,” Nao mumbled.

He smiled, “Then come with me. There’s plenty room for you three.”

The three Ultra’s nodded and quickly made their way under the umbrella. Kio and Nao held onto his sides and he felt Mio climb onto his back and hold him by the neck.

“Is there a reason why you’re on my back?”

“I have to! I’m the shortest and I nearly got wet!”

Kio explained, “She tripped and almost fell into a puddle. She didn’t get completely wet, but her legs and skirt got wet. We were waiting for her to get dry before you came.”

Nao glared up at him, “It’s a good thing you can’t see her! Now that her skirts wet, you can totally see her-”

“SHUT UP, YOU MORON!” She yelled at her brother and it went right into his ear. He could feel her fingernails digging into his neck.

“Hey, easy there! I’d like to keep the skin on my neck,” She loosened her grip and he felt himself able to breath better, “Man, those are some sharp nails you got. I never got a chance to ask, but what kind of Ultra’s are you?”

“We’re dragon Ultra’s,” Mio answered, “Our wings and tails haven’t come in yet, though. Mom keeps saying they will come soon, but soon is taking forever!”

“Well, growth sprouts take a while, but it’ll come in soon. It might even come in when you least expect it, so just be patient. Now hold on tight, you three.”

With the Ultra’s holding onto him, the group walked through the rain, keeping themselves dry under the umbrella.

“You three really like Koujaku, don’t you?” He asked to make things less quiet.

“Of course!” Mio answered, “He’s the coolest Ultra ever! He always beats up the bad guys and he never loses! If I were one of his enemies, I wouldn’t be able to rest knowing he was coming to get me.”

“Me neither!” Her brothers answered.

“I can imagine,” He spoke, managing to keep himself calm.

Kio spoke up, “You know, the other day at school, we were learning about different types of flowers. Lord Mink even came to our school to teach us. It was pretty cool, but it got me thinking: how could would it be if Koujaku could come to our school?”

“So cool!” Nao shouted, “He could beat up our teachers so we don’t have to do homework anymore!”

“You idiot!” Mio said, “Koujaku would never do that. He never attacks anyone who’s innocent.”

“I guess you’re right…”

With the three Ultra’s keeping him occupied, they continued down the path and made it to a long path that gave a great view. Along the horizon, the cave ceiling creating stars, was a large grand castle. He stopped and looked out at the horizon.

“What is that?”

“Oh, that’s the capital,” Kio answered, “That’s where Lord Mink lives and it’s where the barrier is.”

_"So, that’s where I’m heading. It’s a lot closer than I thought it’d be. Hope that means I’m on the right track.”_

Nao noticed him staring, “It looks really cool from here, right? I bet it looks even better up close. I hope we can go to the capital someday.”

“You and me both,” He said as he took his gaze away from the far off castle and continued down the path. Eventually, they came to a stop when they saw that the path ahead of them was a steep uphill cliff, about five feet taller than him.

“Great. Now what?” He looked around him, trying to find a way up.

The two brothers looked at each other, nodded, and Kio spoke, “We know what to do! Mio, get off his back.”

She got off his back and Nao took the umbrella from his hand and handed it to his sister.

“What are you two doing?”

“Just watch!”

The brothers came up to him, lifted him up by his legs and got him over the steep incline. He looked down at the Ultra’s, “Man, you sure are strong.”

Kio proudly put his hands on his sides, “Of course! We’re dragon Ultra’s after all!”

Nao spoke, “You can go on ahead. We’ll get up there soon.”

“You sure you’ll be alright?”

“Yeah!” Mio answered, “We’re great at finding our own way.”

“Alright. Make sure you keep each other dry.”

Waving goodbye to the Ultra’s, he kept moving forward. He found more writings on the walls. These ones made him shiver, but not for what he expected:

 

_"It was this power we held, the knowledge the humans learned of and the fear it ignited within them, that sparked the war between humans and Ultra’s._

_We were attacked, viciously and without mercy._

_But, in the end, it could hardly be called a war._

_Though we were made to be superior, the human's knowledge over us and the strength of their souls ensured their victory from the start._

_Not a single human soul was lost and countless Ultra’s were killed and destroyed, their souls fading from existence._

_Here, now, we remained trapped._

_Abandoned and forgotten by those that created us.”_

 

The words made his stomach churn and his heart ache.

_"That’s why we attacked them; just out of fear of what they might do?! Every legend I heard of all said that the war was started because the Ultra’s were becoming greed filled and destructive. But to think we could turn our backs so easily on them just like that…”_

Not wanting to linger on these thoughts for too long, he focused his attention on the path ahead of him. It was nothing more than sturdy built wooden bridges seemingly hovering over a dark abyss. He noticed that there was another path beneath him, but he didn’t have the faintest idea how to get to it. Instead, he kept his focus on moving forward and navigating his way through. He stopped when he saw a large blood red circle appear on the floor in front of him. Then another not three steps behind him. In a mere second, he was surrounded by blood red spots. And from these spots, blood red swords shot up. He had to straighten his body just to avoid getting hit. He heard a growl come from beneath him and looked down to find Koujaku on the lower bridge.

_"When the hell did he get here?!”_

Figuring it was best not to dwell on that and focus more on not getting impaled on a sword, he immediately ran. Spots would form on the bridge, warning him where the swords would emerge. It made it easier to avoid them. But finding his way to the end was the true challenge. Unlike the last time where Koujaku ambushed him on a straight path, the bridge was long and broke off into many paths, most of which led to a dead end that forced him to turn around and memorize where he had went just to find the end. Along with having to avoid Koujaku’s relentless assault and making sure he didn’t fall off the bridge, finally finding the path that looked to lead to the end felt like a relief.

But that was quickly diminished when that path came to a dead halt, nothing but darkness before him and no signs of land.

_"No no no no NO!”_

He turned back to try and find the right path, but he was stopped in a few steps when he saw Koujaku slowly and briskly approaching him. The Ultra pulled out his sword and rushed forward, slashing at him. He was able to jump back from the attack, stopping himself before he reached the edge of the bridge.

But the force of the sword swing seemed to have done some great damage to the bridge, as in a split second, the end of the bridge broke off into pieces and he screamed as he fell into the dark abyss below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of how I wirte this one. The only challenge I see is finding the best place to end each chapter to make sure it feels even. But I think I'll get the hang about it as well soon enough. I'll also try to get these chapters out as soon as their done to minimize the wait time, the same goes for With Just One Moment since I'm having a lot of fun with that one.  
> Well, may as well get back to work!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all are ready for what is to come. This is gonna get pretty fun later.


End file.
